Trainer Tales: Veneticus' Story
by MaverickKayPrime
Summary: Sometimes its hard being a Pokémon. Especially a lost Buneary on the verge of death. But when saved from this darkness and plunged into a world of battles and intrigue, what can become of her? In spite of all the violence and danger, what if... just what if... she enjoys it?


Trainer Tales

Veneticus' Story

Oh was she in pain. That small Buneary was. She trekked the long dirt roads, holding on to her quaking body, as the sun beamed down so ferociously on her. She wanted it all to end. She just wished... it would all end, that Buneary did. She wanted someone, something, to take her pain away. Oh, did she wish it was away.

"Oh Crap, lookout!" a voice rung out behind her.

She turned around quickly; a large tire rubber was heading her way. She reacted as soon as possible, and swiftly dodged the tire. Whoever was ridding it went for a tail spin, and he and his bike crashed off the side of the road, and into a dirty rock. The Buneary scoffed at the human. She wasn't in the mood for such foolishness. But then that human stood up.

He was a tall black man. Raven dark hair on his head, and a black shirt was on his body. He had blue jeans and dark black and red shoes on his feet. When he looked at the Buneary, obvious pain on his face, he grumbled.

"Damn, that hurt..."

The Buneary's ear twitched and she looked away.

"Say, are you alright?"

That regained her attention. She looked up at the man and raised an eyebrow.

"I asked you a question, are you alright?"

"Buuuunearery?" she replied.

The man was taken aback by her words, before he suddenly looked skyward.

"Yeah," he said, "I guess I should've seen that coming."

He returned his gaze toward her, and scanned her closely.

"You don't look too well." he said, "What have you been through?"

Now the Buneary was mad. She stuck her tongue out at him, before stepping off to continue on. She didn't get too far. All she remembered next was a blinding white light.

...

"Ack! Where am I!?" The Buneary cried.

She was falling, but she did not know where she was falling to. There was darkness around her, all around her as the blinding white light subsided. She hadn't felt such a strange feeling in a long time. She was terrified by what was going to happen, whatever that maybe. But that fear hit a stalling point when she crashed into a plushy soft area. She opened her eyes, and saw hearts all around her. In fact, what she landed on was a big, pink, soft heart, one that calmed her down and made her feel safe.

"What the? Where..." she looked both ways before it hit her. She was in a Poké ball! "NO!" she roared, "NO! LET ME OUT!"

She looked back and forth frantically, before she jumped forward. She needed to get out of here; she needed to get out of here right now! So, like a streak of light, she darted forward. But when she came to the outer shell of her trap, she was instantly bounced back. She tried this three more times, but each time remained as equally fruitless as the last. She was trapped. It was over. She was caught.

She fell onto the soft pink heart and laid there. It had happened again. She was someone else's... slave... She couldn't break out, there was no escape, there was just... sadness now. So she cried... she cried her little black and brown eyes out.

...

Pokémon Trainer Maverick Kay Prime bounced the Quick ball up and down in his hands. A smile was on his face, pleased with his recent catch. The ball had stopped shaking mere moments before, showing that his catch was complete.

"And they say there's no wild Pokémon in the Orre region." he remarked to himself, a smile on his cheeks, "Just you wait little Buneary, you'll be well soon enough."

Climbing back atop his bike, he began to slowly ride off on the desert road, stopping every moment to wince in pain from his fall.

...

Night fell pretty soon... and it was horrifying cold within the deserts of Orre. Maverick was forced to stop on the side of the road due to this. Fortunately, his Blaziken was there, but then again, his Blaziken was always there. The fire he created blazed high into the night, and kept all of those who were around warm. Maverick sat on an old log as he stared deeply into the flames. His Blaziken, Blaze, lied on the ground near the flames, asleep from his days work. Standing on the outskirts of the flame, was Courage, Maverick's Lucario. Behind Maverick, gazing at the starry sky was Maverick's Flygon, Misty. Appearing out of thin air beside her master was Maverick's Mismagius, Maria. And finally, poking out between his arm and his body was Maverick's Buneary, Bary.

"It's pretty tonight, ain't it?" Maverick said as he looked up to the night sky.

"Buuuuun..." Bary said, through her voice.

The trainer rubbed his head, before reaching into his Pokémon bag. Withdrawing from it, was a blue and yellow Poké ball. A smile came to his face, before he suddenly raised the ball up high.

"Hey!" he said to his Pokémon, "Do y'all wanna see your new partner?"

His Pokémon, save for Blaze, gave him their attention. He smiled, before throwing forth his Quick ball. It opened, as per usual, and released the Buneary that was trapped inside. The first thing she did was jump kick her 'Master' in the face.

Maverick fell on the cold desert sands while the Buneary continued her violent assault on his face. He tried to pull himself free, but she had sharp claws. Fortunately, Courage was quick, and she quickly held removed the Pokémon from her master's face.

"Lucario..." she said adamantly.

"Tha-thanks, Courage..." Maverick said as he rubbed his face.

In his Pokémon's hands, the feral Buneary thrashed about in the aura Pokémon's strong hands. All of Maverick's other Pokémon gave his newest catch confused glances, while Bary gave her a look of jealousy.

"Wow," Courage said to the Buneary, "you're pretty ferocious, aren't you?"

"Shut your trap you!" The Buneary called out.

"Oh my..." Maria said, floating up near the Buneary's face, "Why are you so mad?"

The Buneary jerked her eyes toward the ghost Pokémon, before grabbing on closer to Courage's arms.

"Oh, someone's scared." Misty remarked.

"Sh-shut up! I'm not scared!" The Buneary called out.

"Hey!" Maverick suddenly called, "Courage, drop her please."

"Lucario..." she replied, as she dropped the small rabbit.

She landed on the ground with a thud, before looking up to survey her surroundings. She couldn't see the dirt road, and the only light came from the fire to her right. Maverick walked up to the Buneary, and gave her long and hard look.

"You are one vindictive animal, aren't you?"

"Buneary!" she roared in his ears.

"Okay, well, I've got a great name for you. Veneticus, yeah, that sounds angry, and it definitely matches your personality. So, Veneticus… Veneticus." he looked up to his other Pokémon, "Got that, her name is Veneticus..."

They nodded in unison.

"Good! Now, c'mon, let's get some sleep, Blaze has the right idea."

Maverick got closer to the flame, before he slid out a sleeping bag. While that happened, Maverick's other Pokémon got around the flames as well, leaving the Buneary on the outskirts by herself. She stood there, shocked. He had given her a name. And, she was just supposed to accept this? Veneticus... Veneticus...

"Veneticus?" A young, bubbly voice behind her called.

The Buneary in question turned around to see an equally small Buneary.

"Hi, Veneticus." she said.

"Urgh! My name is not Veneticus!" she roared.

"Yes it is, Master Maverick just said your name is Veneticus."

"My name is not Veneticus! He can call me that all he wants, I won't accept it!"

"Umm... er... If you say so... my name is Bary." slowly she outstretched her paw, "Maverick's _first_ Buneary."

"Pfft, I sense a bit of animosity." she remarked.

"Oh no, I like you Veneticus, your kinda cool."

"My name is not Veneticus!"

"Uh-huh, so Veneticus, I think you're kinda cool, I've never seen anyone attack Master Maverick before, and I've been one of his Pokémon for a while."

"So, I won't be one of his Pokémon for long."

"What? Why would you say that?"

"I'm not staying with him! I don't even know him!"

"I didn't know him at first either, but I grew to love Master Maverick, so will you!"

"Forget that! I'm leaving now."

Slowly, Veneticus began to march off, slamming her arm in Bary's arm while she did so. The loving Buneary began to fidget, before she called out,

"Courage!" and like lighting, the hardened Pokémon was there.

She picked up Veneticus, quickly and looked at her with her red eyes.

"Calm down firecracker." she said with her army like voice.

"Forget you."

Courage kept her strong face, before she dropped the Pokémon down hard in front of the flames.

"Maria." the aura Pokémon said as she walked off, "Keep that Pokémon in check."

"Done, and done." the ghostly Pokémon replied, whilst floating down near the rogue rabbit.

"Don't worry dearie."

"I'm not worrying..." Veneticus replied, a fidget coming with her words.

"Mama Maria is here..." the ghost said, her eyes suddenly gleaming sharp red and satanic.

For some reason, that mean look kept Veneticus in place.

...

Trekking through the Orre continent was an ordeal it was. Traveling with a strongly defiant Buneary was even harder. Maverick had left the desert continent weeks ago, and had since returned to the Hoenn region. Though he had already become the Pokémon champ of the region, he had returned to join in a Pokémon Stadium tournament, one that he was itching to battle in. It was a three Pokémon tournament, and though he hadn't entered in yet, he was prepared. But now wasn't the time. Right now, Maverick was stuck in a random abandoned home, on a long since abandoned path in one of Hoenn's forests. From what he could tell, he was near Meteor Falls as he could see the mountain's summit, but he knew he was still days away. To add to his troubles, a storm was brewing, and all though it hadn't started yet, he knew it was going to be killer.

The dusty home he was held up in was old, he could tell. But whoever owned it before had a good thing going. It was a two-story home with a basement, and a back yard made fit for a ranch. He didn't know who owned the home before, but he considered them foolish.

Maverick looked down from the second floor of the home, and called out to his Lucario below.

"Courage," he called, "is everything fine down there?"

Blaze appeared from the halls of the home and nodded. The aura Pokémon looked back up, and nodded whilst saying,

"Lucario."

"Oh that's great..." the trainer called back as he stepped down the staircase, "I guess there's no point in keeping the others all pent-up."

He reached down to his Pokémon belt, and realized all the immediate 6 Pokémon he had on him to battle, those being Misty, his Nidoqueen Poison, his Infernape Scorch, and Veneticus. The freed Pokémon stretched out and yawned in unison as they had been held inside those balls for a while. Maverick gazed down to them, and smiled.

"Good evening you guys."

"Queeeeeen!" Poison roared, while Scorch hopped up and down. He was always energetic.

Maverick looked back down to his belt, and opened up a pouch that took up the most space. Inside were Poké balls, all kept in their small, standby pose. Within these Poké balls were Pokémon the trainer could never be without, so instead of sending them to the computer, he kept them around in his big pouch. To be honest, this was illegal, but Maverick never used the others unless he replaced his in-game six. Which, admittedly, was often, but never so often it was cheap.

Popping out of their balls, Maverick's Pokémon began to stretch and yawn out loud. Things were getting loud quickly due to this, but Maverick didn't mind. He was laying on the great shell belonging to his Lapras, Azula. In the midst of all of this chaos, Veneticus remained. She had her arms crossed, as she was visibly angry. No one paid her mind though. Throughout her adventures with Maverick, she had remained disrespectful, and refused to listen to any command he gave. That, of course, lead to many defeats on her parts, defeats that one of Maverick's other Pokémon, had to clean up. Even Bary had turned the tide of battle a few times due to Veneticus' defiance. She didn't care though, the rogue Buneary was just waiting for the time when she would be separate from the trainer. Just waiting...

"Veneticus!" Bary called as she dotted up.

"Oh it's you..." Veneticus said to her friend. Truly, Bary was the only other Pokémon that gave Veneticus the time of day. Well, Irritum, Maverick's Hydriegon did too, but for completely different, more malicious reasons.

"Veneticus, are you mad again?"

"I'm always mad, don't you know that?"

"Of course silly bunny." slowly she got closer, "You know that Kung-Fu belt Master Maverick put on your head looks really cool on you!"

She turned around.

"So!?" she barked back.

"Okay, okay, jeeze, I forget, don't mention Master Maverick around Veneticus, she gets maaaaaad!"

"Ugh..."

"You know, it was so funny when Master Maverick tried putting that thing on your head."

"Can't you just keep quiet for a few seconds!?"

"Can't you not yell?"

The rogue Buneary threw her arms up in the air in rage, while the playful Bary hopped near her.

"C'mon," she said her face giddy with excitement, "let's go explore this place."

"What? Don't you think 'Master Maverick' is going to get mad?"

"Not if I'm with you silly! C'mon!"

Veneticus was at first adamant, but when she turned around and noticed Maverick's Zorua, Anubis, making google eyes at her, she decided to run off with Bary. The two trekked the halls of the disused homes for what felt like forever. It was dusty, dark, as there was a lack of functioning lights, and eerie. Bary looked upon the dark halls with a great smile upon her face. Behind her, Veneticus stood. While her friend had her eyes on the halls, Veneticus had her eyes on freedom. She gazed long and hard out the window toward the darkening skies. With Bary bothered by the halls, she had the perfect escape. No one else was around, not Mama Maria, army girl Courage, and especially not Maverick. She tip-toed a few steps away, before she used her powerful bunny legs to hop onto the window seal. As silent as a ninja, she opened the window slowly, before slipping out to the home's backyard.

"Huh, wanna go down it Veneticus?" Bary asked, but no one answered her. "Veneticus?" she said once more, but yet, more silence.

She turned around to notice her friend was gone.

"Veeeeneticussss!" she called out.

The Buneary in question was already clear across the yard. A devilish smile was placated on her face as she came to terms with her escape. No more failed battles, no more Maria terrifying her, no more Courage and her hard stance, no more Bary, and no more, definitely no more, Maverick! Her smile grew even bigger at that thought. _No more Maverick!_ she repeated to herself in her mind. That thought gave her the energy to hop off toward freedom. She sprung off even faster, and faster, before she heard a roar. It stopped her in her feet, and a crackling of thunder soon followed. Some rain drops fell, and Veneticus saw the maker of the roar. It slowly came out of the forest beyond the backyards fence. A fully grown, fully evolved, Ursaring.

"Uuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrsaringgg gggggggggg!" it roared at the top of its lungs, but its call went unanswered by the roaring of thunder.

Veneticus stepped back. This Ursaring looked angry.

"C-c-c-calm down!" she commanded, but the creäture did not head her call.

"Ursaring! URSARING!" it roared.

That's when Veneticus realised something off about this Ursaring. It was feral. A feral Ursaring... in this area of Hoenn! She couldn't believe it.

"Uh... uh..." she said, "Uh... uh..."

"Ursaring!" the great bear remarked, a sadist's grin on its mouth.

"You know what!" Veneticus said, "I'm not scared of you!" she took a fighting stance, "C'mon!"

Quickly she ran toward it, and delivered the strongest jumping kick it could to the ring on the bear's chest. It didn't do a damn thing. She bounced off quickly, and landed safely on the grass. When she looked up, she saw the violent and crazed eyes belonging to the Ursaring. It raised its claw struck down quickly, and powerfully. It's blade like appendages dove deeply into Veneticus skin, and caused a slew of her red dyed blood to fly through the air.

The rabbit fell back onto the grass, her paw on her scar, and breathed in and out horridly in pain. She wasn't sure when it happened, but now, it was pouring down with rain, causing the grass to be drenched by both her blood and water. She cried, as the pain grew so heavy and great. Never before had she felt so hurt and injured. The searing sensation on her stomach from the slash burned so much. It was as if fire was coursing in her body, and centering on that wound. She called out in pain, called out to whom, she wasn't sure, but anyone would be good to save her from that thing.

Speaking of 'that thing', it was getting closer. The Ursaring was moving closer, and closer, its footsteps were growing louder and louder, while Veneticus was growing fainter, and fainter. She had experience near death before; the Buneary did, back in the Orre region before Maverick found her. But now, she was alone, and now, she was going to die. It was over... all over...

"Courage, Aura sphere, now!"

Veneticus looked weakly. Standing there, while being rained on, was Courage and Maverick. The black trainer was pointing toward the giant Ursaring, while the Lucario was charging a blue sphere of energy within her hands.

"Lucario!" she roared out when she fired the blast.

It went flying straight through the air and struck the Ursaring square in its ring. The blast of aura was so great, it lifted the Ursaring from off of its feet, and sent it hurtling back into the forest from which it came. This was followed by the crashing and falling of two trees, probably on top of creäture as well. Courage regained her composure after fire her blast, and took a deep breath. Maverick patted his Pokémon on the shoulder, before moving over to the pain stricken Buneary.

"Veneticus?" he called to her, concern in his voice.

She looked up to him, as the pain was too great to speak through. He lifted her up gently, before turning over to the home.

...

Veneticus' eyes shot open so quickly. She was... in the house again, surrounded by darkness. She could hear the grumblings of the sky outside, and the rain that fell on the home, but she could not see it. She turned her head around slowly, and saw the sleeping bodies of Maverick's other Pokémon. She moved her paw to the ground in an attempt to help herself up, but a painful burn coursed from the area of her wound. Looking down, she found that it was covered in... what appeared to be silk. She wasn't sure what was going on. Had she died and not realized it? Or did she actually live. It was so dark, she couldn't tell, but everyone one else was there. Just sleeping.

The hare slowly turned her head to the right, and saw the slumbering body belonging to Maverick. He had slept near her. She twitched her nose and looked him up and down. Between him and her though, was the slumbering body of Bary. She grimaced at the sight, but, she did not know why. Turning her head, her eyes came face to face with the dark purple eyes of an Espeon. She wanted to scream, but something kept her mouth shut.

"Calm down..." the Espeon said his voice cool and calm. She nodded, but she wasn't sure if she actually listened.

"Good." the Espeon said, "My name is Eveleire, Maverick's Espeon, and the resident Psychic in this group... though Cecilia believes otherwise."

"Uh... huh..." Veneticus replied.

"Listen... a few of us had decided to get some answers out of you."

"W-what?"

"Yeah, ever since Maverick caught you, you've been so determined to disobey him around every corner. And today, in your vain attempt to escape, you almost got yourself killed."

Veneticus said nothing.

"So, we're going to go about this as gently as we can." Eveleire said.

He waved his split tail warily, signaling to the others. Veneticus gazed up to the darkness, and found the dark purple sheet like body belonging to Maria descending upon her. She turned to her right, and saw, tiptoeing through the darkness, was Cecilia, Maverick's Kirlia. Among them all, crawling up on her four paws, was Courage. Dalmascus, Maverick's Noctowl, was awake too, but he wasn't really paying that much attention. He was just there.

"You see Veneticus," Eveleire said, "Cecilia here will touch you, and when she does, she'll learn almost everything you have done in your life."

"What?" Veneticus said, her voice weak, "You can't do that?"

"We will have to." Courage whispered, "We want to know, why do you act so distant?"

"Why do you all act so submissive!?" Buneary barked back.

This sudden outburst, caused Maverick to toil in his rest, but alas awoke no one.

"We understand..." Maria said as she descended upon the hare, "Not everyone here enjoys being a Pokémon... and sometimes, it seems to be downright annoying... but Maverick will not keep anyone that does not love being here. He doesn't want to keep us as his slaves."

"Could've fooled me." Veneticus said.

"I don't understand you..." Courage said, her eyes glowing, "Your aura, it gives off such a wild array of emotions, and yet, you stay adamant on lying to yourself." slowly her eyes returned to its original dimness, "What is the real reason you hate Maverick so?"

Veneticus bit her lip.

"You can tell us... Veneticus..." Cecilia said as she sat near her.

The Buneary had to take in her words. Why did she hate Maverick so much, that question felt so stupid in her mind. Over the three weeks she knew him though, he hadn't given her a reason to hate him. In fact, he had been a good man, playing with everyone, all of his Pokémon. He truly didn't treat them like slaves, but... more like friends, and, if you were one of his bests, he treated you like an... equal. That's how he treated Courage, and Blaze, and Misty... even Bary... but when it came to her... Veneticus... the hare couldn't remember a time in which Maverick treated her with as much love and affection as the others. But she didn't blame him, looking back over the time in his care; the hare had given him nothing by defiance. Hell, she even attacked him the first time he set her free. Why did she hate Maverick so? Liza... that's why.

"Liza..." the hare said.

"What was that?" Eveleire called.

"Liza... she was my... former master..." Veneticus said. This caused everyone's interests to be peaked.

"You... belonged to someone else?" Eveleire remarked.

"Yes... she was a blonde haired young woman. I had so much fun with Eliza..." she remarked. She could see the home they used to have... somewhere in Sinnoh, near Snowpoint, "I remember, she loved bothering the local boys with her feminine charm. Because, Eliza was so beautiful. And together, we would go out in town and, get all dolled up together. It was fun... we didn't have time for Pokémon battles... they weren't for us." She closed her eyes, "But then one day, we traveled down to Hearthome... and Eliza entered me into one of their beauty contests... I won... flawlessly." she began to grin, "And then... Eliza changed on me... for some reason... that win made her so different. She wanted more, and she saw me as her ticket. We kept, going to those pageants, and I kept winning. At first, it was so fun, but then it changed... Eliza wasn't pleased. She forced upon me these strange regiments... all for the sake of beauty. I ate so many Poké blocks, and trained so hard, just to get beautiful and... and... Eliza was pleased... I'm not sure when but... she stopped playing with me... stopped talking to me... and showed emotion only when it came to becoming beautiful. I... she... became so horrible. I didn't feel love anymore... I was just..." she quickly became angry, "I was never good enough... never good enough, no matter how hard I tried, she just wasn't pleased." some tears flowed from her eyes, "But I loved her, and I didn't want to leave her side. So I pushed on. I prayed that one day; everything would go back to normal... One day, life would go back to usual, just like in Snowpoint." she grew so silent afterwards.

"How did you get in the Orre region?" Courage spoke forth.

"I don't know..." she replied.

"What?"

"I said I don't know!?" Veneticus' eyes were filled with so much sadness and pain, "One day," she said while sobbing, "Just one day, I was released from my Poké ball, and..." she choked, "I was all alone." Everyone around her pulled back.

"Come again?" Eveleire said.

"I was alone. I don't know how but, when I came out of my Poké ball, I was all alone in some forest area. I waited, thinking that Eliza was around but, minutes turned into hours, hours to days, and then... I just left. I was attacked so often by trainers. They were trying to train, and when they saw me they immediately thought wild Pokémon. I had never been in a fight before in my life, so they... banged me up pretty bad. I was never knocked out though, and I kept on... until Maverick caught me."

Silence came into the air once more. Courage slowly sat up, taking a pose reminiscent of the Native American's and said,

"I understand now..."

"What?" Eveleire sounds.

"I understand now... you're mad at Maverick, because you couldn't trust him... I understand."

She looked Veneticus up and down.

"Get some sleep Veneticus." she stood up, "The storm is over now."

...

Several days later...

Maverick walked down the path from Meteor Falls with a smiling face. Looking back, he was fortunate to remember the quick path through, or else that would've been hell on his legs. Fallarbor town wouldn't be too long away. On his shoulder, Veneticus, who had surprisingly become a lot more obedient since she got that scar. Maverick wasn't sure why, but he assumed that Usaring injected fear into her. The real reason she wasn't in her Poké ball though, was the simple fact that Maverick didn't trust her molecules getting all unscrambled and changed into light when she had such a bad wound. The scar had also begun to heal, mostly due to healing from Eveleire and Cecilia. It was still a mystery to the hare how the psychics were able to pull that off. It wasn't gone though. Three faded, but still visible slash marks now lied on her stomach, and she was sure, she would never be rid of them. Boy, the stories she'll tell.

Slowly, Veneticus and Maverick came over to grassy fields. The rocky, dirty path the exited from the mountain had slowly fused into a sea of variable greens. A face barring full rows of teeth appeared on Maverick's face.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" Maverick asked his friend.

"Bune..." Veneticus replied.

"Still quiet, huh?"

"Bune..." she reiterated.

"Ok, jeeze..."

Jovially, a fellow trainer came from over the hill. Maverick looked into his eyes, and he did the same. And like that, the old saying of crossing eyes with an enemy came true. Just like always.

"Hey..." the fellow trainer said.

"Yo..." Maverick replied.

"Wanna battle."

Maverick mulled the answer to that question around in his head, even though he already knew the answer.

"Sure." he replied with a sly grin.

His opponent gave him an equally serious grin, before he withdrew his Poké ball.

"Let's see how you do against my Minccino!" he announced as he toss his red and white Poké ball to the center of their battle field.

The ball snapped open as usual as ever, and spewed forth a brilliant light that gave way to the chinchilla Pokémon, Minccino.

"Minceeee!" the Pokémon announced a great grin on its lips.

Maverick's grin grew even bigger, as he reached down to his Poké belt.

"Let's see how well you do against Cec-"

"Bune!?" Veneticus suddenly blurted.

Maverick turned his head, and eyed his rabbit Pokémon closely.

"Send me..." she said, in her Poké voice, though she knew Maverick did not understand her.

"Veneticus... you want to battle?" Maverick said, a confused look plastered on his face.

"Hey!" his opponent suddenly said, "Are you battling or not."

"Hold your Rapidash!" Maverick barked, turning quickly back to Veneticus after doing so. "You sure?"

Veneticus nodded.

Maverick shrugged with indifference, before threatening his opponent with,

"I hope your Minccino has health insurance!" he thrusted his index finger forward and commanded, "Go Veneticus!"

The hare leaped from his shoulder quickly, before taking a battle pose.

"Buneary!" she roared, causing her foe to jump back, minorly startled.

The Minccino gazed long and intensely at Veneticus' faded wound. That... scared her.

"You ready for a battle?" Maverick's enemy asked.

"No, but I'm ready for a beat down!" Maverick smugly replied.

It was then that the air around them changed. That air, that intense, pulse pounding, heart stopping air, was the air of battle. Maverick had tasted it so many times before, and he never got bored with it. He wondered if his opponent, that trainer he gazed at, felt the same. He appeared to be young, a lot different from the champion he was.

"Minccino! DoubleSlap, now!" his foe ordered.

Like lightning, the chinchilla-like Pokémon dashed forward at full speed toward the her rabbit eared foe. Veneticus stood her ground, but the moment she felt those two slaps strike across her face, it pushed her back.

"Veneticus, quick, Low Sweep!" Maverick commanded.

The bunny's ears twitched. Quickly, she dropped to her side, and delivered a kick straight to the Minccino's feet. The chinchilla was fast though, and she easily evaded the attack by leaping back. Veneticus growled at her opponent. The Minccino, appearing childish, merely giggled at her opponent. Veneticus slammed her fist on the ground, before quickly returning to her feet. Watching the battle, her master stood with his mouth agape.

"Veneticus... listened to me?" Maverick questioned, before his opponents commands knocked him out of his senses.

"Minccino, Swift now!"

Maverick grinned at his opponent's foolish commands.

"Veneticus, Mirror Coat, now!'

The chinchilla fired star shape blasts toward her opponent, but Veneticus grabbed her shoulders. When the stars struck her, she felt the pain pierce her skin, but it did no visible damage. Instead, her body began to move in a wave-like fashion, as if it was being distorted by some invisible force. She could feel the power of her foe's swift coursing through her. Her eyes widened. Before, all Pokémon battles she was in were painful and she hated it. But now, as she listened to her master... something inside of her... _changed._

Quickly, she thrusted both of her arms forward toward her opponent, as she let out a great and powerful roar. From her fingertips, and invisible wave flew through the air, crushing the ground and air it touched. The Minccino, taken surprised by the attack, was thrown forcibly through the air. The chinchilla crashed into the bushes of the battlefields background, and stopped moving. Veneticus looked at her catatonic opponent with wide eyes. _Had I done this?_ she wondered in her head.

The fellow trainer moved over to his fallen comrade, and said with a saddened voice,

"Min-Min-Minccino?" he said.

Her eyes turned to swirls, signifying its defeat.

"Minccino!" the trainer cried, while Maverick jumped up and down with a smile.

"Veneticus, that was wonderful!" Maverick praised.

The rabbit in question got out of her attacking position, and stood tall. She could taste it then. The taste of... a Pokémon battle. That air... it was... intoxicating.

"That was just luck!" The trainer called, returning his Pokémon to her Poké ball, "Let's see how well you do against my Breloom!"

Tossing forward a great ball, the trainer brought to life a tall, kangaroo-like mushroom Pokémon.

"Breloooooom!" the creäture announced to the battlefield.

Veneticus looked at the creäture with wide eyes. This tall, green, Pokémon, with a head like a raptor, was something better left to one of Maverick's other Pokémon. Still... that taste of battle... it was... guiding her. She was ready... to battle... to destroy.

"Veneticus," Maverick said, "ready to return?"

She shook her head.

"You sure? That think can punch really hard... believe me, I've been hit by one."

She remained adamant, and shook her head.

"Okay..."

"Are you ready?" Maverick's foe questioned.

"Heh, are you ready, is a better question!" Maverick replied.

"Great, Breloom, Mach punch."

At the speed of light, the grassy fighter disappeared, and reappeared in the small rabbits face. With him, a powerful punch aimed straight at the hare's chest. She flew back far from the strike. Landing in a patch of grass, she groveled in pain on the ground. That thing hurt like hell, but it would not deter her. She was ready; a Jump Kick to the face would easily drop that verdant fool.

"Veneticus," Maverick began, "Dizzy Punch, now!"

"What!?" she questioned in her own words.

Veneticus may not have been so great at fighting, but even she knew Dizzy Punch wasn't the answer. Had Maverick lost his mind? She wanted to Jump Kick that mushroom square in the face. But she knew not to disobey her master. She leaped forward, crossed her eyes, and struck the Breloom with her rythmatic hands. The first punch was followed by another one, one felt like it made a tune in the air. The Breloom stepped back after the attack. The assault barely phased the fungi, but it had an unforeseen after effect. His eyes crossed, and he began to see double everything. One Veneticus became two Veneticuses, and the sky and ground began to mirror each other.

"Bre...loom?" he said in confusion, as his footsteps became woozy.

Maverick's smug grin grew as he gazed at his now dazed opponent, while his fellow trainer looked at his Pokémon with wide eyes.

"Breloom... are you okay?"

"Bre...loom?" the shroom responded.

"Quick!" his trainer called, "Headbutt, now!"

The Breloom brought its head down at an angle, and ran forward at high speeds... straight toward a boulder. Even that grassy helmet of his couldn't protect him from a full speed collision with an extremely hard rock. The boulder cracked, and toppled over relatively quickly from its attacker, while the Breloom fell to its knees rather quickly. It was over, to say the least.

"BRELOOM!" the trainer called while his Pokémon remained silent.

Veneticus hopped up and down in pleasure. Though her opponent to himself down, she was the one who caused it... or was she. Turning around to her master, Maverick was smiling toward her. Was she the one who won the battle, or was it her master, the one who gave her the command. She shifted her weight uncomfortably while she pondered that thought. Had it been her way, she would've jump kicked that mushroom square in the face. But, had she missed, she would've most surely injured herself. And then, she would've lost...

"Hey," Maverick called, "are you done, or do you have another Pokémon up your sleeve?"

"No..." the trainer said through sobs, "you've won..."

"You know it!" Maverick roared with happiness.

Turning his attention to his small rabbit friend, he scooped her up with his massive arms.

"Veneticus, you make me so proud!" he announced to the wind, clutching his small rabbit close.

She blushed embarrassingly, before snuggling to her master. She won. She actually won. She listened, and she won... and it felt... _good_.

...

The Pokémon Stadium in Lilycove City was everything the trainer had dreamnt it to be. Large, shiny, magnificent. Never once had he seen such a place in his home country. Where was the trainer, you may ask. Right now, he stood in the empty stands of the stadium, awaiting the battles which would commence the following night. It had taken him about a week to clear the distance between Fallarbor town and Lilycove City. He probably would've arrived sooner had he not gotten in a rematch with Winona (heh heh, her Altaria be damned). But now, that he stood in the midst of the mighty arena, the entire week became worth it. When he started his Pokémon adventure years ago, the stadium in Lilycove was nothing but a dream, but now that he returned, his Pokémon hardened over the years, he felt a heightened sense of accomplishment. And now, he was going to show his accomplishment to the region that started it all for him.

Veneticus had gotten a lot friendlier since her win as well, though she didn't like to admit it. She blushed a lot more, giggled when Maverick told his silly jokes, and listened well when he told his stories. Not only that, but her relationship with his other Pokémon had grown well. She referred to Maria as Momma Maria, Lucario became sort of a mentor to her, and Bary and her had become an almost unbreakable duo. It was strange how one single night could change people. Speaking of Veneticus, the small rabbit was perched on Maverick's shoulder. She too looked upon the battlefield of the stadium with prying eyes.

"You know Veneticus," Maverick said as he leaned over the railing, "Pokémon Stadium battlefields have the ability to instantly terraform the land, making it easier to change the battlefield for Pokémon who need it, like my Lapras."

"Buuuuune..." the furry hare responded.

"I'm so ready to go Veneticus, I can't wait."

"Eary..." she remarked.

"The only sucky thing is, I'm only aloud three Pokémon in this tournament."

"Bune?"

"So, I chose the ones I knew who'd win, but would still get a good bit of training from participating."

She said nothing, and merely looked up in his direction.

"Buneary, I've chosen you as my starting Pokémon."

The hare was awestruck.

"Bueary?"

"Yeah, that's right, you! I want you, alongside Courage and Bary to take home the gold."

"Buneary!?"

"Yeah! Aren't you excited!?"

Veneticus was excited alright... so excited she fainted. She fell off of Maverick's shoulder and into the safety of his arms. Glued on the rabbit's face, a visage of pure, unhinged, happiness. Maverick shook his head to the creäture before heading up the staircase. Slowly, though, something caught his eye. He turned around, and gaze long and hard at the other end of the arena. Sitting on the bleachers, watching him leave, was a blue haired young man, who was around his age. Maverick shrugged at his gestures, before exiting the dome.

...

"I can't believe it!" Veneticus said on the Lilycove balcony, "Me, in that Stadium!? Surrounded by all of those people! I can't wait!"

"Calm down..." Maria's ghastly voice echoed from behind her.

"Mama Maria, you don't understand, I've always wanted this, I've always wanted to..." she turned her head over to the Stadium. Lights could be seen jutting out from its arena, last-minute preparations for tomorrows games. The clock must have fallen around eight. "What if I fail Mama Maria?" Veneticus suddenly asked as she toiled her toes over the edge, "What if I mess up, and cost Maverick the victory?"

Slowly, the witchy Pokémon wrapped her veil like appendages over the rabbit, lifting her up in the air.

"You'll be wonderful." she said, "I'm sure of it."

"But... I've failed before..."

"You've never failed before, Veneticus, Maverick would never say that."

"No, not Maverick... Eliza... I've failed her before..."

"Eliza isn't your trainer, now is she?"

"But-"

"But nothing... just be calm, and listen, you'll do fine..."

Slowly, she placed the hare down, at about the same time Maverick walked up to the balcony. He leaned over the balcony's guard rail, before looking over to his Pokémon.

"Overwhelmed Veneticus?" he said to the rabbit. She nodded, "Don't worry, I remember the first time I joined a Pokémon tournament... at that time it was Blaze, Misty, and Courage, though Blaze was a Combusken, Misty was a Vibrava, and Courage was still a Riolu. The main man of that tournament had this huge as hell Houndoom that tore through everyone like paper. Even Misty, who I was almost sure would win seeing as she was half ground got taken down by that big ass dog... but somehow, some way, Blaze delivered a double kick square to his head, that ended everything. I can't even remember that guys other Pokémon, just that one freakin' Houndoom. Wait... was it even a guy?" Maverick laid his hand on his chin while he played the memory out in his head. After a few seconds of pointless wonderment, the trainer scooped his Buneary into his arms and said, "Anyway, let's get some sleep, as they say, chance favors the prepared mind, and nothing prepares the mind for anything more than sleep... and a good breakfast."

Latching his hand on Veneticus' paw, he lifted the small rabbit up, and onto his shoulder. On a bed parallel to his, was Bary and Courage. They too were prepared for the battles on the upcoming day, and had been given the leisure of sleeping in the hotel room's spare bed. Maverick gently laid the rabbit on the sheets between her friend and mentor. Slowly the trainer closed the balcony doors. It was a beautiful starry night, and if one looked past the Pokémon Stadium, they could see Mossdeep City. That place brought up bad memories within the trainer.

"Damn Tate and Liz..." he murmured as he retired to his bed.

...

No matter how hard she tried, Veneticus couldn't fall asleep. She fidgeted in the bed shared by Courage and Bary continuously, keeping the aura and rabbit Pokémon awake throughout the night. Maverick remained motionless on his bed, his dreams filled with the victories for the upcoming night, and his other Pokémon were sleeping in various areas of the room. The night beamed into the room, but that was expected... it was twelve in the morning.

"Veneticus!" Bary whispered as she slouched in her pillow, "Go to sleep!"

"I can't!" she said giddily, "I'm so excited!"

"Seriously, go to sleep!"

"I so can't!"

"Veneticus." Courage said as her eyes glowed in the night, "Go to sleep... now..."

The rabbit, while hyperactive, held her breath and tried her hardest not to move. In her mind lied the thoughts of the battles she would be in. _What will I see? _she wondered, _How strong will they be?_ she pondered, _Am I good enough?_ she thought. Though Maria had reassured her earlier that night, that one question ran continuous laps through her mind. She prayed she was good enough. She didn't want to be abandoned again. She hugged herself close at that thought. Abandonment was so horrible...

"Bary..." she whispered to her partner, causing an expected groan.

"What, Veneticus?" she asked, annoyed.

"Have you ever been to a tournament before?"

"Yes, multiple times."

"No, I mean, have you ever _been_ in one before?"

"I don't catch your drift..."

"She means, have you ever fought in a tournament before," Courage interrupted, "And the answer is no, this will be Bary's first tournament."

"So... Bary's never fought in one before?" Veneticus asked the taller one.

"No... but neither have you, I think Maverick did this for a specific reason. Having Bary at your side might just give you the added boost you need to outperform the others." throwing her arms up, she suddenly gave out an exasperated yawn, "Now get back to sleep, okay?"

Doing as she was told, the small rabbit curled up in the covers of the bed. She could taste the air of battle already. Oh, she just couldn't wait.

Something caught her ear. She wasn't sure if anyone else heard it, but she sure did. Looking over to Bary, she saw her fellow Buneary had kept her ears shut on her head. Whipping around to Courage, the Anubis like being was asleep as well. The noise appeared again. It wasn't any of her fellow Pokémon, no this sound was ominous. Slowly, she stammered out of her bed, and down to the floor. The sound was calling out to her. She tiptoed past Eveleire, hopped over the slumbering body belonging to Cecilia, and climbed over Poison's hard husk, before finally coming to the exit. The sound was on the other end... it was...

"Who's there?" she said to the other side.

There was no answer, but a shadowy claw. Something was moving through the other end, a ghost Pokémon, a Haunter to be exact. Veneticus looked long and hard into its eyes, wishing to scream, though the words would not form. Rings of silence came forth from the ghost's eyes, and suddenly, Veneticus dropped. The ghost remained silent after doing so, and floated off toward Maverick's unconscious body. Through the shadows of the air, this creäture withdrew a silver blade. It descended upon the trainer with malevolent intentions, its knife moving closer and closer to his head.

"Good night..." the Haunter said sadistically.

It raised its silver blade high in the air, before striking down at the sleeping trainer with all of its might. But, something stopped him.

A shadowy blob of ghastly darkness blasted at the gas Pokémon, and sent him careening toward the wall. Instead of striking it like a hard force though, he merely faded through. He poked his head through the wall seconds later, and gazed down at his attacker.

It was Bary.

The Haunter looked at the clearly angry hare, before lunging forward. She opened her mouth to yell out, but the gaseous Pokémon's quick lunge silenced her, by way of a mouth to the hand. This movement did not go unnoticed. Quickly, Courage sprung up, only to meet the Haunter's eyes. Through hypnosis, she was quickly sent back to sleep. Haunter grinned, please with his work, before looking down to the struggling hare in his arms. His eyes gleamed, an attempt to send his captive to sleep, but something unexpected happened. Bary's eyes started to gleam back, and she gazed at her assailant with big, cute eyes. This, captivating stare, willed the Haunter into loosening his grab, but more importantly, it kept him stalled long enough for the witch behind him to get prepared. He could feel her presence, Maria's that is, and upon turning around, she got him with her mean look. He dropped Bary soon after that.

...

"Someone's after me Officer Jenny..." Maverick said as he gazed into the eyes of the Haunter. Maria woke him up earlier that night, and now, as the sun barely looked over the horizon, he stood in the Lilycove police department, gazing at his attacker.

"It pains me to see what some people do with their Pokémon..." the green haired beauty replied, "How could someone train their Pokémon to kill someone."

"Where I come from," Maverick said, "that isn't all that uncommon..."

"Well, Maverick, do you know anyone who would want you dead?"

"No..."

"Is there any reason why anyone could want you dead?"

"Not that I know of..."

Officer Jenny laid her hands on her hips while she groaned,

"Then I can't help you as of now Maverick..."

"Can't you just track down who owns this Pokémon?"

"I'm not sure you know how hard Pokémon tracking is."

"I guess..." he remarked, "Well, call me if you get anything on my attack Officer..." Maverick added as he turned to exit the Pokémon cell stalls. Passing another officer as he came to the doorway, his eyes caught a hold of a certain poster. It was an add, drawing attention for the upcoming Pokémon Stadium battles which Maverick had already registered for. Gazing at the poster caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"Officer Jenny?" Maverick called.

"What?" she answered, walking up slowly.

"What's the prize for winning the tournament?" the trainer asked in a solemn manner.

"From what I've heard, it comes from Mossdeep, a moon rock if you will."

"A moon rock?"

"The prize is a valuable Moon rock, one that was taken a few years back from a lunar rover."

"Such a strange item to be placed for victory..."

"Well, that's just what I've heard, I'm not completely sure... wait a second... Maverick, are you apart of that tournament?"

"Of course I am, why else would I be here? Plus, I'm pretty sure who ever sent me that nightcap, is a trainer as well."

"So what, you think someone tried to have you killed so you wouldn't take part in the tournament?"

"That's my guess, meaning that moon rock must be pretty valuable."

"It can't be so valuable someone would try to have you killed!"

"Mayhaps, but now I have to get it."

"Maverick, you aren't telling me you plan on going to that tournament!?"

He gave her sick smile.

"Of course I do! No knife wielding Haunter's gonna stop me!"

"You're insane Maverick."

"Listen; just keep an eye on me. If what I predicted is true, and my attacker _really _wants that Moon rock, then tonight, something's going down."

The officer eyed the trainer sharply with her red eyes, before shrugging with indifference.

"Just don't die..." she added.

"Death isn't in my agenda anytime soon." Maverick replied cockily.

Pushing out through the police department's front door, he made his way down the empty sidewalks of Lilycove toward the Pokémon Stadium.

...

There was silence in the training gym. Every Pokémon Stadium was built with an indoor training gym. It was an area where Pokémon were allowed to train in preparation for their next battle. The training gym in Lilycove Stadium was especially impressive, being twice the size as others. Maverick stepped into the gym as the time barely peaked past eight thirty. He was awestruck, this area would perfectly fit all the Pokémon he had on him at the time. So, reaching into his Poké belt, he realized all the Pokémon he had on him. Immediately, his Infernape, Scorch, ran to the huge boxing ring in the center. His other Pokémon began to play with all of the various workout equipment save for a select few. Courage stood near her master, with her arms crossed, Blaze laid on the weight lifting gear, and promptly went to sleep, Veneticus and Bary appeared near the dumbbells, but found little need for them. They were... shaken up from the earlier night.

"How can Master Maverick be so calm?" Veneticus inquired, as she watched him playfully tease his Raichu, Leda.

"I'm not sure," Bary said equally astonished, "Did he forget someone tried to have him killed last night?"

"Maverick just doesn't care is all!" A voice rung behind them.

Gazing down from over the boxing arena barriers was the blazing monkey Pokémon Infernape, or Scorch, as he was named. Maverick gained him when he began his Sinnoh journey many years ago. Back then, he was nothing but a Chimchar, but now, he was one of Maverick's strongest Pokémon. The only thing keeping him from being the absolute strongest was Maverick's first Pokémon, Blaze. Scorch was an energetic fellow though. Full of lively vigor and happiness. It was rare to not see him smile, as it was almost always plastered on his face. He rarely ever got mad.

Gazing back to the ape in question, Veneticus retorted with,

"He doesn't care that he nearly died!?"

"He's alright, ain't he?"

"Well... yeah, but..."

"So don't sweat it! He's not..."

"But... what if he did not get stabbed by that thing?"

"But he didn't..."

"But-"

"But nothing! Listen, your fear of Master Maverick dying is obviously some form of hidden trauma, sooooo." quickly, he latched his hand on hers, and brought her up onto the boxing platform, "Let me teach you some tricks."

"Huh, what?" the hare protested, but the ape would have none of it.

"Put up your hands, like this!" he said, holding her hands in a manner reminiscent of Bruce Li, "When you fight tonight, I wanna see you fight like this!"

"Why?"

"Because, like this, you will be able to move quick enough to dodge all of your opponent's attacks while keeping yourself on the offensive."

"You're pulling that out of your flaming butt!"

"Maybe, but you don't know that, now do you?"

"Well..."

"By tonight, I'll have you so well-trained, that bandana on your head will be actually worth something!"

"I'm not sure how to feel about that..."

"Just listen!"

"Wait a second, Bary's gonna fight too, why don't you teach her anything!?"

"Bary's strength lies more with her special abilities, you are more... down to earth, dare I say!"

"And that means?"

"You like punching your opponent to death."

"Well... when you put it that way..."

"So here, when I'm done with you, you'll know just how to kick ass!"

"Oh... but..." slowly she turned to Bary, who gave her a mere shrug, "Ok fine then, what am I going to learn?"

"My signature technique, one that I have spent years mastering!"

He raised his fist, and slowly engulfed it in flames.

"My Fire Punch can drop a Wailord drop dead!" he boasted.

"And what, you're going to teach it to me?"

"But of course! I'm pretty sure what you face in that tournament will make your blood boil! And the only way to stave off the heat is to burn... hotter!"

"You must be insane."

"I get that a lot... now, come my pupil! Learn the secrets from, the master!"

...

The doors flung open. Lights beamed high in the sky as everyone who lived in Lilycove filled in the seats of the stadium. It was eight o'clock, and the games were about to begin. Maverick walked down the elevated bridge toward his battle post with vigor. Oh did he enjoy Pokémon Stadiums. The night sky hung so far away right now, and he could barely hear himself think due to the roar of the crowds. Man, he couldn't wait for the battle. Behind him, walking with her eye one everything, was Courage, and on her shoulders laid Bary and Veneticus. The hares could barely contain their excitement, this was easily going to be the greatest day of their lives.

Slowly, the Stadiums jumbo screen beamed on, showing the faces of the games commentators.

"Hu-Hu-Hu-Hullo! Everybody! And welcome to the Lilycove Pokémon Stadium! I'm Jon Deerling, your commentator for this evening, and beside me, my co-host Vance Weaville!"

"Good Evening," Vance said, his voice more serious and monotone compared to his friend, "And welcome to the opening tournament for the Lilycove Pokémon Stadium."

"Yes, sir! Trainers from all over are here! We have some from as close as the Sevii islands, to as far as Unova planning to entertain us."

"Not only that, but ace trainer Maverick, who had become Hoenn champion years ago, is here too."

"That's right Vance, Maverick, as he said before the games began, has plans on shocking us by his years of Pokémon training."

"Maverick's three Pokémon are his two Bunearys, Veneticus and Bary, and his Lucario Courage."

Slowly, the trainer in question climbed up the stairs to his post. Upon arriving to the top, he found the battlefield to be more impressive than originally thought. Right now, it was completely flat, with the ground being a hard green. That didn't matter though, because in a matter of moments, it was going to change before his very eyes into a great and beautiful landscape for war.

The jumbo screen's image changed away from the two commentators, and showed instead the brackets for the tournament. Starting the games right away, Maverick and his team on the Red side, while his opponent, a Lass trainer named Krise, took the Blue station away from him.

"The combatants have taken their stances!" Jon said, clear excitement in his voice.

"Yes, but who will be sent out first?" Vance said, his scanning eye seeing everything.

Meanwhile, Maverick rubbed Veneticus' head.

"Ready my little rogue?"

"Buuuuuun..." Veneticus replied.

Maverick couldn't feel it, but her heart was racing. She was so impatient. She couldn't wait. She was so impatient... She just couldn't... wait! Slowly, she pulled up onto Maverick's shoulder, fidgeting in place as she did so. This tournament was boiling in her veins. She wanted to feel that rush of battle, she was waiting!

"It looks like our battlers are ready, Vance!"

"Good, let's get this battle going!"

A three appeared on the screen... followed by a two... followed by a one... and finished with a "GO!"

"I choose you, Blastoise!" Krise cried as she threw forward a great ball.

Landing on the green floor of the battlefield, the ball snapped open, spewing forth the titan like blue tortoise.

"Blastoise!" the blue turtle cried into the air.

Maverick rubbed Veneticus' head before saying,

"Go my darling..."

She did a double take at those words, before she realized what he wanted her to do.

Leaning over on the edge of his arm, Veneticus propelled herself skyward using her powerful rabbit legs. When she fell onto the battleground, a semi shockwave could be seen. Impressive, to say the least.

"Let's weigh in the battlers here, Vance!" Jon called.

"Maverick's Buneary, Veneticus, stands at 1 foot, 16 inches, and weighs a light 14 pounds."

"Wow, and Blastoise?"

"6 feet tall exactly, and weighs a heavy 200.14 pounds."

"What is going through Maverick's mind Vance."

"A wise Trainer knows how to turn his disadvantages, into advantages."

"As you say, prepare the Terraform!"

Smoke erupted from the stadium's battleground. The green platforms began to bend and seal away, as if they were doors on the floor. Replacing the grounds was a fully made field of grass and water. The water poured, and poured, until the grassy fields became a variable swamp lands. Veneticus jerked her head left and right as she came to terms with the fact that the field had literally changed under her feet. But as the Blastoise came forward, she knew the battle had commenced. So, lifting her hands in the way of Bruce Li (as per Scorch's commands) she began to bounce up and down. Intimidating to most, but not to her attacker.

"Wow, look at this little Buneary right here, Vance." Jon called, "She seems to be channeling the energies of the late great karate king."

"Let's just hope this is enough to save her."

The crowd grew wild with anticipation. Things were going to explode.

"Blastoise, Water Gun now!" Krise called out to her Pokémon.

The great turtle fell to his fours, and fired a double stream of high pressurized water toward the rabbit. Veneticus panicked as she tried her hardest to escape, but her foot was half sunken in the mud. She pulled violently on her feet, but there was no escape.

"Veneticus, Mirror Coat!" her master's orders quickly came.

Veneticus held onto herself, and concentrated hard. As she sunk, she could feel the painful, prickling of the water guns strike her body. But just like last time, the move was characterized as a mental distortion around her body. The air moved like waves around her, and the water splashed around her. When her opponent's attack was over, Venteticus thrusted both of her paws forward and sent after the great tortoise an invisible wave of pure power.

"Blastoise, Withdraw!"

Quickly, the blue turtle stuck his appendages into his shells. The Mirror Coats counter, while powerful, did barely anything to the well protected turtle. Instead, the ground around it was reduced to a circle of mushy swamp mud.

Veneticus quickly pulled her leg out of swamp and stared down toward her opponent. The Blastoise came out of his shell quickly, and chuckled toward the small hare.

"Migh'y fine attack ya 'ad thear lad!" he said.

"Ack, your Scottish!?" Veneticus said in disbelief.

"Nay, lad, born down in Viridian!"

"Could've fooled me!"

"Veneticus!" Maverick suddenly called, "Low Sweep!"

The hare nodded, before leaping off toward her opponent. Clearing the entire length of the battlefield, Veneticus landed on the soft mud, only to strike at the Blastoise's feet. That creature was great, but that made him slow. Tripping him up, the Blastoise landed on its shell with a heavy thud.

"Ah!" Krise screamed, "Quick, Blastoise, get up!"

The Blastoise struggled valiantly, but alas, like all turtles, this great one couldn't get off of his shell. Grinning with his opponent on his back, Maverick suddenly yelled out,

"Veneticus, Jump Kick!"

The rabbit took a few steps back in preparation, before running forward at high speeds. Leaping into the air, she felt a burst of air travel through her face, before she collapsed foot first onto the Blastoise's face. The force of the kick was so great; the Blastoise's face was pushed deeper into the mud. Maverick's grin grew big as Veneticus landed safely away, while his opponent, Krise, screamed in horror.

"Blastoise! Rapid Spin, now!" she quickly called.

The turtled sunk into his shell, and began to spin at great speeds. He spun so fast, he began to float in the air. Veneticus looked at the floating turtle with confusion and horror on her face. When he stopped his tirade, he landed safely on his two feet. Veneticus was pushed up against a wall. Though she had stricken the Blastoise many times, she had yet to do any serious damage to him. She, however, had still been relatively weak due to the water strike from earlier. That was the thing about Mirror Coat, though it did great damage to her opponents, she still had to be hit for it to work. The Mirror Coat only multiplied that attack by two and countered it to her opponents. But that Blastoise could defend against that, and even if he couldn't she didn't know how much more pain she could take. She needed a way to turn his strengths against him... his considerable height would do.

"Veneticus, Grass knot!"

Her eyes sprung open. Looking down to the ground, she grabbed a long strand of surprisingly durable grass. With that in tow, she quickly made a knot out of it with her hands, and ran over to her opponent. Krise's eyes widened as she realized just exactly what this little rabbit was going to do.

"Blastoise, Scald!"

From the tortoise's water cannons, a blazing spew of steaming hot water flew out. Veneticus was nimble though, and she easily slid under the heated water. Covered in mud, she quickly dashed around the Blastoise's feet, her grassy rope wrapping around its knees as she did so. The blue turtle struck at his assailer, but the rabbit dodged each strike until the grass was well around his knees. She pulled back heavily, tying the turtle's legs together, and then, with another yank, she tripped the Blastoise and into the cold wet mud. The turtle slammed into the ground so hard, it felt like his entire weight collapsed on top of him. With all of that force, and with the hard sediment beneath the marsh lands, the Blastoise was knocked out cold.

The crowd erupted with a great scream as Veneticus stood tall and victorious over her opponent. Maverick shook his fist in victory, while Krise looked down at her defeated Blastoise.

"Wow..." Jon said, "That little Buneary must have a lot of heart."

"Trainer Maverick was wise in using Grass Knot on his opponent." Vance said, "With all of that weight on Blastoise, Grass Knot was able to turn all of that, into an attack. Added with the bonus that Grass Knot is a grass-type move, it did twice the damage to Blastoise than it would to any other Pokémon."

"An impressive move, from an impressive trainer. Now, let's see what Krise has in store next!"

Slowly, Blastoise faded into a burning red, before returning to his Poké ball. The trainer Lass wasn't finished though, and reaching down to her waist, pulled out another Poké ball. Throwing it to the battleground, it quickly gave way to Houndoom. Veneticus looked up the devilish creäture with scared eyes. In her entire life, she had only seen Houndours, never a Houndoom. Its horns injected all those images of Satan she had seen all her life.

"Well well well..." the great hound said slyly, "Look at what we have here."

"Krise's Houndoom stands tall at 4 feet 17 inches, and weighs in at 82 pounds." Vance stated.

"Wow, dangerously out putting Maverick's Buneary!"

"So did that Blastoise," Vance pointed out, "but we now know not to underestimate this small rabbit."

"Houndoom!" Krise yelled, "Inferno, now!"

The great hound's eyes began to glow, before he let out a great roar. All around him, a vortex of flames sprouted from his feet. Grass around him burned away, and the swampy mud at his feet evaporated too. Veneticus watched this display of power with fearful eyes; such blazing fury was at home with Blaze, not this Great Dane. At first, it appeared that the flames were merely stationary, but they slowly grew away from the Houndoom, making a ring of absolute terror. Veneticus continuously stepped back, but she was rapidly running out of space. If Maverick didn't tell her what to do soon, she was going to have to improvise. There was no way in hell she was going to let that fire touch her.

"It makes me wonder..." Maverick said while he rubbed his chin, "Quick, Veneticus, Fire Punch!"

The hare looked at her Master like he had lost his mind. How in the name of God was a fire punch going to deflect the wall of flames coming near her?

"Whoa," Jon said, "Has Maverick lost his mind?"

"Just wait and watch. Maverick has something planned..." Vance assured.

The rabbit uneasily turned back to the flaming wall, before breathing in a deep breath.

_Well, at least I can say I didn't kill myself..._ she thought, as she raised her fist.

Shaking it violently, it quickly erupted into a spout of flames. She eyed the flames intensely, before another order came from Maverick.

"Veneticus, aim at the base of the flames!"

She nodded, though she had no idea what her Master was planning. Still, it was better than being set ablaze by those flames. So, uneasily, she forced her fist into the ground right as the flames met her. The resulting explosion sent grey smoke skyward. The stadium exploded in a roar of screams. No one knew what the outcome would be, though Maverick kept his cool. As the smoke subsided, everyone was surprised so see a series of heavy rocks protruding from the ground. Behind the rocks, untouched by the flames, stood Veneticus. She looked toward the great hellhound from behind the rocks, before taking in a breath of relief.

"Oh dear..." she said, "That was close."

"Veneticus, Low Sweep!" Maverick quickly commanded.

She nodded, before leaping over the rocks to attack her foe. The Houndoom was caught off guard by the fast acting rabbit, and didn't have time to defend when she struck at his legs quickly. He fell on his side, and the muddy ground began to douse his flames.

"What the!?" he barked, before scrambling to his feet.

"Houndoom, Flatter her!" Krise ordered.

Slowly, the hound grinned. He looked long and hard into the rabbit's eyes, as he swayed left and right.

"So," he said to Veneticus, "nice claw marks."

Veneticus' eyes widened as she looked down to her scars.

"Must've been mighty painful to get those."

"S-so what if it was?" Veneticus replied.

"I'm just saying, a small girl like you, being strong enough to take whatever caused that... you must be strong."

"Well... I don't like to toot my own horn but... hey, what're you getting at!?"

"Nothing, nothing but... how about you show me what you can do?"

"Huh?"

"C'mon, hit me, I'll stand perfectly still."

He stood up tall, and eyed her devilishly.

"I wanna see what you can do." he said.

"Veneticus! Don't let him get to you!"

But it was too late, she was dazed. That Houndoom was good. He tricked her and now, she didn't even notice she was seeing double.

"C'mon..." Houndoom said, "Hit me..."

"Veneticus! He's tricking you!" Maverick barked.

"Uh... uh..." the rabbit replied.

Quickly, she took her stance, and dashed forward to the Houndoom. Little did she know, she was going in the wrong direction. When she tackled for him, she fell face first into a deep mud pit. Maverick faced palmed himself, while Houndoom made a great flame from his mouth.

"Oh... are you alright there?" the dog asked the rabbit.

"Oh shut up!" she barked back.

"Quick, Houndoom, Flamethrower!" Krise yelled, causing her Pokémon to spring up.

He took in a deep breath of air, and spewed out spread fire of flames toward the rabbit.

"Veneticus, Mirror Coat!" Maverick ordered.

She grabbed herself and began to focus. Using Mirror Coat was taking a toll on her though. Between the water from earlier and the flames of now, she was getting hurt. Though her body didn't show it, it sure as hell felt it. She remained adamant though. She had too.

The flames swirled around her as she absorbed it into her body. Within her, she felt the power intensify and grow, double in strength. A wild grin appeared on her face, as she aimed toward the Houndoom. Or was it the Houndoom? She was seeing double, and she couldn't tell. She tried to refocus her eye sight, but it didn't make it. Until she heard a voice ring into her ear.

"Veneticus, aim toward the middle!" she could hear Bary say, her rabbit ears picking it up, even though she was far away.

The hare nodded and aimed straight down the middle of her split vision. Houndoom's eyes widened as he looked straight toward the open palms of the rabbit.

"BUNEARY!" she yelled as she shot out her invisible force wave.

Houndoom tried to leap out-of-the-way, but the rabbit's strike was spot on, and the wave caught him mid leap. The ground crumbled and broke away as per usual with the attack, and the Houndoom was thrown toward the edge of the arena. Though he landed within the stages boundaries, he was unfortunate enough to land in a mud pit deep enough to trap him.

Veneticus looked at her opponent, and smiled, but she could no longer move. Her legs were moving against her will as they fell toward the ground. Though she hit her opponent, the flames that she used to increase her power was now taking its toll on her body. She could barely stand, and, the Houndoom was getting closer.

"Good move..." he said, his body quaking from pain, "I guess... I underestimated you."

"Houndoom... are you okay?" Krise asked her Pokémon, to which he replied with a gruff, and pained,

"Hound..."

"Quick... Houndoom... use... Quick Attack...?" Krise said, unsure of herself.

The dog nodded, and rushed toward the small, staggering rabbit at high speeds. This would surely end it, but Maverick wasn't done yet.

"Veneticus... Low Sweep!" he commanded, gaining a look from his Pokémon.

Did he really expect her to hit him first, she could barely move! But alas, she staid adamant, and believed in his words. He knew what he was doing; he was a Pokémon master after all. So, she fell to her side, and struck blindly in the air. Maverick must've been a tactician.

Somehow, in some way, the small rabbit struck the Houndoom out of hyper speed, and brought him back to normal light. He tripped over her foot, and flew in the air, before crashing in the muddy ground from below. Veneticus fell on her back and took in deep breaths of air. These Pokémon battles were taking a lot out of her. Though, she enjoyed them. _Such a strange sensation_, she wondered, unsure of how she should feel.

"And the Houndoom is down!" she could here Jon cry over the screen.

"Hm... This Buneary sure can fight..." Vance commented.

"But... she looks a little tired."

"I think she's earned it, taking down two fully evolved Pokémon is no easy task."

Maverick lifted his shoulders, before smiling at his Buneary. Thrusting forward his Quick Ball, a red beam of energy shot out, and connected with the near fainted rabbit. She became a beam of light, and quickly returned to the blue and yellow Poké ball she called home.

"Good job." Maverick whispered to the ball, knowing his Pokémon heard it, "Courage, finish this, will ya?"

The army like Lucario nodded, before leaping from the red post and down to the battleground. A collective 'Ooh' and 'Ahh' flew through the stadium as people looked at the sleek blue and black Pokémon.

"A Lucario is a rare Pokémon to come by..." Vance said to Jon.

"From what we've learned, Maverick got his Lucario when he met a mysterious man with a blue hat, who gave him an egg. That egg soon hatched into the Pokémon we see before us today."

"I hope Krise has a Pokémon who can turn the tide of battle, it will be especially difficult now."

She didn't. Krise's last Pokémon was a Gyarados. And though it was great, Courage easily defeated the creäture with a well shot Aura Sphere to the face.

...

Veneticus sat on the weight machine as she rubbed her knees. Though her entire body ached, she retained her tough attitude, and acted as if she was completely fine. The constant battles had taken its toll on the young rabbit's body and, though she enjoyed them, they were extremely tiring. So she returned to the gym, for some much need R and R.

"Dammit," she murmured "no matter how many times I get healed, I'm still aching."

She threw out her arms and yawned deeply, before a significant ally of hers popped up.

"Hello Veneticus!" Bary said jovially.

"Hi Bary..." she solemnly replied.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing I'm just... Ack!"

Quickly she lurched forward as she clenched her body tight. Bary laid her paw to her lips as she got near her friend, before asking her,

"Are you okay Veneticus?"

"My... body hurts..." she revealed.

"Huh, from the fighting?"

"Yeah, jeeze, one fight after another, our breaks are so short-lived!"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell , maybe if you just let me and Courage handle things instead of fighting two Pokémon at a time, your body wouldn't be so hurt."

"Don't patronize me!"

"Ok, ok... here!"

Slowly, the rabbit pulled her friend close. From her mouth soon after, a calm and soothing noise reminiscent of a bell flew came from her. Veneticus' eyes began to close calmly as the tune entered her ears.

"Bary..." she said.

"Yes?"

"If you love Master Maverick so much, why haven't you evolved yet?"

"What?"

"I mean... we, Bunearys evolve when we find that person we just click with. I was wondering... if you love Master Maverick so much, why didn't you evolve?"

"Well... It deals with Eveleire... to be honest, I feel like evolving every day! I feel like, at any moment, I could transform whenever I want to but... Eveleire told me he saw my future... He said that, the day I evolve... I was going to evolve near someone special to me... someone who..."

Veneticus got within eye level of Bary slowly, and for a while they stared at each other. Though she didn't say it, Veneticus was sure what Bary meant.

"Do you think...? I'm that person Eveleire was talking about?"

"I'm more than sure... I'm-"

There was a quick rumble followed by another and another. The two hares instantly jerked their heads up at the sound and the feel of the earth-shaking. It was getting stronger.

"Bary!" Veneticus said, "Where's Master Maverick?"

"He and Courage are talking to the news cameras."

"Now!?"

"Hey, we don't know what's going on, it could be a friendly!"

Walking into the gym room, albeit barely, was a 7 foot tall Rhyperior. Each footstep he took made the room quake considerably.

"Hello little ones." he said, his voice placing him with a Russian ancestory.

"Um... Hello..." Bary said with a cute influence.

"So... you are the ones my master has sent me to get."

"Oh... I hope your master is nice then!" Bary said, gaining an annoyed look from Veneticus.

"Oh no," he said, a slight chuckle erupting from his jaw, "He wanted me to get you in the sense of, he wants you dead."

"Figures..." Veneticus replied, "Well, I'm not going down without a fight!"

"Just as I planned it." the Rhyperior said sadistically.

Quickly taking her fighting position, Veneticus charged forward and performed a leaping kick to the drill Pokémon's hard chest. She bounced off harmlessly, but she was fast. Scrambling to her feet, she began to deliver punch after punch to her opponent's body. After a few moments of that, she enhanced her attacks, but engulfing her fists in flames. Her strikes increased in velocity and power as she continued, but after a few minutes of wild punching, she stepped back to catch her breath. To her surprise and horror, she did absolutely nothing to the Rhyperior's body. She stepped back in fear, while her mighty opponent laughed triumphantly.

"Good try, little one," he said, "but not good enough."

He pulled back his fist, and threw forth a punch with so much power; Veneticus flew through the air before she landed at her ally's feet, twelve yards away. Pain surged through her body like electricity, while Bary tried her hardest to get her to her toes.

"Veneticus!" she cried, "Please get up."

"I'm trying!" she said through her aching body.

"I like you, little one!" the Rhyperior said as he grew closer, "Such power in such a small package I'm impressed."

"Can't you just go away!?" Bary yelled at her attacker, "What did we even do to you to deserve this!?"

"Ohhh, you break my heart little girl. I guess I'll just have to break yours harder!"

He rose his foot high, before bringing it down to stomp on his foes. Bary, who had her arm around her friend, was able to dodge the attack just before she became a pancake. The Rhyperior was impressed, but he was deterred. He stepped closer to his victims as they desperately tried to escape.

"Please tell me you have a plan Bary." Veneticus said, feeling slowly returning to her body.

"In fact, I do." she replied, "Can you run."

"My body may hurt, but I'm not paraplegic!" she scolded her friend.

"Good, then let's run!"

Bary leaped to her toes, before bolting off in the sea of workout equipment that was the gym. Veneticus did a double take, before following her friend shortly. Their foe chuckled evilly to himself before speaking aloud,

"Go ahead, run, I shall find you."

Around the other end of the gym room the two hares reunited. They were in a corner though. One end of the gym led to the stadium, which was sealed off due to a current Pokémon battle, while the other exit was blocked off by the great Rhyperior. They needed an idea, and quick.

The ground rumbled as around the corner, their attacker appeared. He scanned the ground closely for his fearful opponents, as an evil smile spread across his lips.

"Come now," he said with his Russian voice, "I truly don't want to hurt you, only kill you!"

"That's a contradiction!" Bary yelled.

"No it's not, I don't need to hurt you, to kill you. If you come now, I shall make it quick, and painless."

"Fat chance!" Veneticus sneered, causing an amused grunt from drill Pokémon.

"As you wish little ones…" he merely replied.

Slowly, he raised his hand, and revealed the hole shape entrance within it. Aiming it around the area, his eyes suddenly caught a hold of Bary's outstretched ear sticking out from behind a treadmill. A smile followed, before he took a firing stance. Energy flowed through his body, before an explosive fire escaped from his hand, propelling a great rock. The rock crashed into the treadmill, and caused a small fiery explosion. He smiled, but when his eyes traveled up, he saw the two rabbits handing on a ceiling pipe. His smile turned downward, before he fired another rock blast toward them. Veneticus and Bary quickly fell to the ground, dodging the attack barely, before running off to other gym equipment.

"You can't run forever!" the Rhyperior roared as he once again lost sight of them.

The two hares had taken refuge under the gyms boxing arena as they plotted their next course of action.

"So what next?" Bary asked her friend.

"I've... got nothing..." Veneticus truthfully replied.

"Really," Bary replied frankly, "you have nothing?"

"Didn't you see what I did Bary!?" Veneticus quickly barked back, "I gave that man everything I had and he just shrugged it off like it was nothing!"

"Ugh, I wish Master Maverick was here, he'd tell us what to do."

"Wait a second, I have an idea." Veneticus commented.

Her friend looked at her as she carefully pulled a stretchy strand of grass from out of nowhere. Tying it around her arms in a similar manner to rope; she pulled back the sheets of the boxing ring before saying to her friend,

"Wish me luck."

Dashing out from under the ring, the hare quickly caught her foe off guard. He jerked back at first, saying nothing, before firing a series of rocks toward her. Veneticus was much quicker though, and easily dodged each attack by hopping left and right. The rocks crashed into the floor, but ultimately failed to touch their target, who by now had made her way to the Rhyperior's feet. Veneticus quickly wrapped the leathery vine around the brute's feet, before pulling it tightly, causing it to constrict his feet, and tie them together. The Rhyperior lost his balance, and crashed violently into the ground face first. Silence flew through the air as the drill Pokémon stopped moving, and lured Veneticus and Bary into a sense of security. This was shattered when the Rhyperior began to move.

"Ohh..." he grumbled, "Not bad, little one."

He got to his feet slowly, and tore the rope made of vines with his mighty leg strength. Veneticus stepped back as her body trembled with fear of what might next. The Rhyperior began to close the distance between the two as Veneticus stepped away. Her body quaked with fear, but, suddenly, her body came in contact with water. Looking up, Veneticus realized the pipe that the Rhyperior destroyed earlier was now leaking a continuous stream of water. With that revelation, she suddenly sparked a plan.

Taking her battle stance, Veneticus began to show a sense of confidence. This humored the drill Pokémon, who slowly began to step forward. Veneticus kept her ground, and as her opponent lifted his hand to fire his rocks, she bolted forward. Coming to his legs, Veneticus quickly performed a low sweep, which tripped the great Pokémon up. He barely fell over her, and crashed into the area under the leaking pipe. Water poured on his body, but the only thing it did was make him angrier. He turned around to the small rabbit that attacked him and once more elevated his hand to her position. Veneticus lurched back, before yellow out,

"Bary, Thunderbolt, now!"

Poking her head from under the gym ring, the hare in question threw her arms up. Rhyperior gave her confused glare, before a series of yellow electricity flew from the rabbit's hands and shocked his body. Though it would normally do nothing, (due in part to his being half ground) since he was drenched in water, the electric attack was amplified. His quaked as 100,000 volts of electricity surged throughout his body and skin. His pained roars echoed throughout the room, before finally coming to a silence when Bary's attack was done. His body was smoldering, his skin black and charred, and he was finished. His body fell back, silent.

Veneticus stood firm for a few seconds to make sure her opponent was defeated, before she fell to her knees in exhaustion. Bary came up behind her friend, stunned by what she had just done.

"Did we... kill..." she said at first, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"I don't think so." Veneticus said, "You're not that strong."

"Hey! I take offense to that."

"So... do... I..." the Rhyperior blurted out.

Both rabbit's eyes jerked toward his body, as he slowly returned to his feet. Despite the shocking experience he just had, he was still ready to go.

"You had me on the fence at first," he commented as he stepped forward, "I wasn't sure how my body would feel to being shocked." grabbing his head, he cracked it into place, before his evil grin returned, "But now, I know you two are all bark, and no bite"

He began to walk toward them, as the two rabbits cuddled together in desperation. Veneticus dragged her eyes left and right as she tried to formulate a plan, but, as luck would have it, fate was on her side.

The gym doors opened, and stepping inside, alone, was Blaze. Veneticus locked eyes with the enigmatic Pokémon. Blaze was Maverick's first, and because of this, it was always expected that she kept the upmost of respect around him. All of Maverick's other Pokémon did, save for Misty, Maverick's Flygon, and Courage. In Veneticus' eyes though, Blaze was an absolute mystery. Though she had come in contact with him on many occasions, the blaze Pokémon was almost always either asleep, or completely silent. She had never seen him battle, probably because most of Maverick's trainer battles never needed the powerful creäture to turn the tide. If that was true, that Blaze was so strong battles were a minor annoyance to him, then the Rhyperior that stood before him was already a failure.

The blaze Pokémon dragged his eyes around the destroyed gym. If he was surprised, he hid it well, for his face was the same indifferent visage it normally was.

"Look at this..." Blaze said with a calm and cool voice.

"What!? What are you doing here!?" Rhyperior roared.

Blaze paid no attention to the drill Pokémon, and instead looked over to the two cowering rabbits.

"Maverick sent me to make sure you too were alright. Seems I arrived on time." shifting his eyes toward the Rhyperior, the blaze Pokémon's suddenly slanted downward, "Leave now... or I'll break you." he threatened.

"Break me!?" the Rhyperior said, smiling.

"I'll break you..." Blaze repeated, but slower this time.

"Then break me."

Blaze remained silent.

"I said, then break me!" the Rhyperior irked, aiming his hands toward his opponent.

He fired a rock at high speeds but before the attack struck him, Blaze punched the midair projectile with a flaming fist, destroying it easily. Rhyperior fired another blast, but Blaze deflected it the same way as before, with a well-timed fire punch. The Rhyperior squinted in anger, before firing a series of attacks that Blaze stopped with expert precision. It was now that Rhyperior noticed something. Blaze was getting closer. With each rock he destroyed, he got a few feet closer, until he was an arm length away.

The Rhyperior stepped back at first, before he threw the strongest punch he could muster forward. Blaze caught it easily. The Rhyperior looked down in disbelief, before throwing another punch with his free arm. Blaze caught that one too. With both of his hands in the blaze Pokémon's arms, the Rhyperior struggled to break free. Blaze held firm though, and displayed impressive arm strength by holding down an opponent almost three times his size. The Rhyperior struggled to get free of the rapidly pain increasing hold, but his defiance got him nowhere.

"And now, I shall break you." Blaze said.

Rhyperior's eyes widened, before an extremely painful surge coursed up his arms. He fell to his knees as the pressure on his arms increased to unbearable levels. Blaze stood tall, unaffected by his foes pained demeanor, as he constantly put more and more force upon the drill Pokémon's arms. And then, with a slight yet powerful movement upwards, Blaze severed the bones within the Rhyperior's arms. The drill Pokémon fell to his feet as pain coursed from his arms and through his body. Blaze stood tall above his defeated foe, his face completely indifferent to what he was watching. Veneticus and Bary came to Blaze's person as they too watched the Rhyperior. What was an impossible force to them was a mere nuisance to the blaze Pokémon. He looked down to his defeated foe, and scoffed unimpressed.

The door opened behind them, to reveal the stunned faces of Maverick, Courage, and a camera crew who had come to see Maverick's other participating Pokémon.

"What the Hell happened here?" Maverick said.

"Blaz...iken..." Blaze replied, nonchalantly.

...

"I forbid you from continuing." Officer Jenny barked at the trainer.

Due to the battle in the gym, the Pokémon tournament held to christen the new Pokémon Stadium was postponed until the next evening. The Rhyperior was captured via Jail ball, a new Poké ball designed with Snag Machine technology. Immediately after, Officer Jenny brought Maverick in for questioning. So here he stood, ten at night, in the green haired officer's office.

"Aw c'mon Officer Jenny, there's no way I'm staying out of that."

"Maverick, you have had two attacks placed on you in the past two days."

"I know, I know, but this is a good thing!"

"And how is that."

"Now we know that whoever wants me dead is in the tournament, or is at least after the trophy."

"And that just intrigues you, doesn't it?"

"Of course it does. There's nothing keeping me from that tournament Officer."

"Maverick, think about this here."

"There's nothing that needs to be thought about officer. I'm going to the tournament, and you can't stop me."

The officer crossed her arms, as she looked at him with her sharp red eyes. He was right; he hadn't done anything warranting an arrest, especially since he was the victim.

"Fine Maverick, go back to the tournament, see if I care."

"I'm getting a sense of anger from you, am I feeling that right?"

"Maverick."

"Don't worry officer, next time you see me I'll be holding up that trophy in victory."

And with that, he left the room. Officer Jenny crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair. After all of these years, she was still babying him.

...

With the gym destroyed, Maverick had no choice but to take refuge within the Stadium's pool area. An area which was, surprisingly, used to train water-type Pokémon. Maverick waded the waters of the massive pool as he laid on his Lapras, Azula's, back. Staying on the edges were all of Maverick's fire-types, which was expected, but among these Pokémon, was Veneticus, who had stayed far away from the liquid. She had taken refuge under Blaze's powerful legs, who couldn't sleep himself due to the water in front of him.

"Blaze..." she suddenly said.

"What?" he grumbled.

"How did you get so strong?"

"Constant fighting." he said frankly.

"There's no beating around the bush with you, huh?"

"No. I don't play mind games."

Heavy footsteps peppered the ground, as Maverick's four-legged Metagross Zeo appeared. He and Blaze were best friends; the two treated each other as if they were army buddies. Due to the steel Pokémon's overbearing nature, he was another high-ranking member of Maverick's group that all other Pokémon gave respect too. Like Blaze, Veneticus had never seen the great Pokémon battle, but from how Courage herself would get nervous at the creature's appearance, she assumed it was great.

"Good morning, Zeo." Blaze said with his gruff voice.

"Good morning, Blaze." the iron legged Pokémon replied. His voice was hard to place a finger on as it lacked culture, tone, and even accent.

"What is the problem?" Blaze questioned.

"It is the moon rock."

"The moon rock? What moon rock?" Veneticus questioned.

The steel Pokémon looked down to her slowly, before dragging his eyes back up.

"The moon rock is the prize for winning the tournament." Blaze said.

"The moon rock is special." Zeo said, "It contains a virus in it."

"How do you know?" Veneticus asked, gaining a dire gaze from the Pokémon's red eyes.

"I can feel it." he said slowly.

"What's in the virus?" Blaze inquired.

"That I cannot tell until I get closer." Zeo replied.

"That's why Master Maverick is getting attacked!" Veneticus blurted, "Someone knows that a virus is on that rock! They keep attacking Master Maverick for it!"

"Do not jump to conclusions." Zeo replied, "Though that is a possibility." His heavy footsteps continued, "I must think on this revelation." he added as he moved on.

Veneticus sprang up, her energy renewed by the knowledge of the virus. Looking over to the Lapras Maverick lied upon, she leaned back to clear the distance with a jump, but she was suddenly held back by Blaze.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, his voice sounding moderately threatening.

"I'm going to tell Master Maverick."

The blaze Pokémon's eyes opened and close, before he spat out a bit of burning spit.

"That's foolish." he said, "Maverick doesn't understand us."

The rabbit looked at him, before crossing her arms in understanding.

"I know but... we need to tell him somehow."

"Don't worry." he replied, "Even if he did know about the virus, he wouldn't care. He wants to win."

Veneticus looked long and hard into his eyes, before turning away in silence.

"Okay..." she said.

"Good, now let's go."

"Huh? Go where?"

"I'm going to teach you some tricks."

"But, I've already got training from Scorch."

"Hah, Scorch is a second ranked fighter, if you want true training." flames sprouted from his wrists as he gave her a devilish glare, "I recommend you follow me."

She nodded.

...

Maverick stepped upon the red battling post for the tournament battle. The full moon was so high in the sky, as if it too was watching the battle. Though the stadium lights were bright, one could still see the twinkling stars in the sky. The crowds in the stands that watched the games cried out in anticipation, their roars equally that of any sound producing Pokémon. Maverick looked up to the stands with a bright face. He couldn't wait for the battles to begin. He had advanced to the finals, something he saw coming from a mile away. The only thing keeping him from victory was his last opponent. Though he had heard great things about his opponent, Maverick had not actually seen him battle. He wanted the fight against his foe to be spectacular and new, but honestly, he was just lazy and didn't feel like learning his opponent's strategy.

Courage, Bary, and Veneticus were all prepared to do battle. Since this was the last battle of the tournament, they knew they had to do their best. But more importantly, they knew to keep their eye out. Maverick being so close to getting that moon rock was bound to get his attacker out in the open. Though they weren't sure if the mystery assailant would attack, they knew to always expect the unexpected.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Jon's voice rocketed over the stadium, "Are you ready for the Finales!?"

The crowd went wild with screams at their patience for Pokémon violence was wearing thin.

"Wow Vance, the crowd appears to be unruly today."

"They had to wait another twenty-four hours for the battles to begin." Vance replied, "I'd be pretty unruly too."

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting." Jon yelled, "Standing in the red station with his trio of Pokémon, Pokémon Master Maverick!"

The crowd yelled with excitement, as the Pokémon trainer stretched his arms out wide.

"A recap for those foolish enough to have missed his earlier battles," Jon teased, "Maverick is a former Hoenn champion from long ago, who has challenged this tournament with two Bunearys and a Lucario. His first Buneary, Veneticus, has made a name for herself."

"The rabbit seems to not go down. In earlier matches she's taken down strong Pokémon ranging from Blastoise to even a Torterra in an earlier match." Vance commented.

"That Fire Punch sure came in handy that day!" Jon replied.

"That, and Maverick's wise planning. Using Veneticus's fire punch to start a forest fire in the stages environment was both brilliant and dangerous."

"Especially since Veneticus was in the center of the flames, but once again, through the use of Mirror Coat, she was able to escape safely."

"Now with that out-of-the-way, what can we say about Maverick's opponent?"

"What can I say about him? How about, he's not here?"

"Don't count your Torchics yet Jon, here he is."

Everyone's eyes shifted to the blue station, and Maverick himself tensed up. This was going to be the first time he laid eyes on his opponent, and he couldn't wait. Boy was he surprised so it was the same young man from the other day. The blue haired one, the one he had seen as he gazed over the Stadium battleground from before, was his final opponent. To say he wasn't surprised would be a lie, but somehow, he felt as if this was going to happen.

"Standing in the blue area, Ace Pokémon Trainer Julian Zasef!" Julian began.

Maverick grinned. So, Julian was his name.

"Julian's Magnezone has so far KO'd each Pokémon he has come in contact with, and his last two Pokémon have yet to be seen."

"Hmm... so the trainer with an unstoppable will, versus the trainer with an unstoppable Pokémon." Vance said in deep contemplation.

"This will truly be an interesting battle." Jon stated.

Julian gazed long and hard at Maverick, and the Pokémon master did the same, with equal intensity. Though they were a great distance apart, their eyes had an imaginary conversation, one that conveyed just how dangerous one another was. And then Maverick winked, causing strange and confused reaction from Julian.

"It seems that our trainers are done sizing each other up." Vance said.

"Great, then let's get this battle started!" Jon roared, causing the audience to go wild.

Maverick smiled, before thrusting forward his index finger.

"Go Veneticus!" he yelled, springing the small hare into action.

She got down, before leaping over the post and down to the green plated battleground below. Slowly... something new floated into her ears. It was a sound she had never heard before. It was chanting... someone was chanting her names. She looked up, and heard the united calls of the populous, all chanting out her name.

"Veneticus! Veneticus!" their voices rung in complete unison.

Maverick looked around to the entire stadium as the voice of his Pokémon rung in his head. He felt overwhelmed, which meant Veneticus was even more so.

"Wow..." she said uneasily, "Just... wow..."

She slowly outstretched her paw, and began to wave to her adoring fans.

"Buenary!" she called out in happiness, "Buneary!"

"Well, I don't know Pokémon," Jon said, "but that sounds like a thank you to me."

"Indeed... Julian is preparing his Poké ball." Vance pointed out.

The blue haired man pulled back an Ultra Ball, before throwing it forth. It landed on the ground heavily, and quickly brought forth the steel electric type Pokémon Magnezone. The creäture floated above the ground, and caused a series of electric bolts to course between its magnets. Veneticus stared at the creäture, but instead of being scared, she felt vitalized. She wouldn't let down her fans, she felt, she couldn't. And so, she wouldn't.

"So, who do you think will win this Vance?"

"I'm proud to say, that I'm a fan of this little rabbit. Time and time again, she pulled off a victory; let's see just how great she'll be now."

"Then it goes without saying, Let the battles begin! Terraform!"

The green panels of the floor slid away as per usual, and gave way to a great and dusty area. Crevices laid everywhere as dusty and rocky mountains and boulders littered the ground. Veneticus looked down to the ground with wide eyes. It was just like the Orre region.

` The roars went wild, as Maverick and Julian's battle officially began.

"Magnezone, Lock On, now!" Julian called, causing the machine like Pokémon's middle eye to gleam.

Veneticus took her battle position and began to bounce around toward her foe. Maverick sized up the battle as his fist shook. He knew Julian was planning something.

"Veneticus, Fire Punch!"

The hare leaped over to the giant steel machine and drove her flaming fist into its head.

The machine fell down, but was otherwise uninjured by the attack. Veneticus gazed down in surprise, before being thrown off by the machine. Julian gave a smirk, before thrusting forward his hand and ordering,

"Magnezone Zap Cannon!"

The machine placed its magnets together, and charged forth a great yellow ball of electrical power. Veneticus looked at the attack with wide eyes, before her opponent shot it out. It came out fast and furious, but not so fast Veneticus couldn't dodge it... or so she thought. When she leaped up, the electrical ball turned directions and head straight forward. Though her eyes widened, as the attack came straight for her, but Maverick was crafty. His opened with a fiery intensity, and he quickly yelled out,

"Veneticus, Fire Punch!"

The hare shook her fist, causing it to explode into flames, and then, while in midair, struck the electrical ball of power. When her fist collided with the yellow blast, electrical bolts and sparks flew in all directions. The ball was slowly gaining power, but Veneticus pushed forward, not wanting to give in. This violent game of tug of war played for only a few seconds, but to Veneticus it took forever. She never gave up though, and forced through with her power, causing the electrical ball to fly down to the ground. The explosion it caused was magnificent, to say the least. Rocks, dust, and debris flew skyward, as the crowd went wild due to the carnage. Veneticus landed safely on the ground, but felt a strange sensation come across her body. It was almost as if electricity was coursing through her veins. She couldn't move, she was paralyzed.

"Uh-oh..." Jon said, "It looks like Veneticus can't move."

"She's paralyzed." Vance stated.

"This doesn't look too good for Veneticus then."

"I'm not sure, I'm pretty sure she'll surprise us still."

Veneticus began to regulate her breath, and started to snap multiple bones within her body in and out-of-place. Due to the training she had with Blaze, she had gotten her body a bit more limber than it was before. Though her body was trying to keep her still, she ignored it, and forced it to move, before the tense and clenched up muscles within her body were set free. She hopped up and down from toe to toe, just to make sure she was at 100%. The paralysis was no more.

"See what I mean?" Vance asked.

"She's a natural Swiss army knife, ain't she?"

Julian's face grew angry. There was no way she should have survived that attack. Maverick was a better trainer than he anticipated, and that rabbit was a lot stronger than he knew.

"Magnezone, Thunderbolt!" he quickly commanded.

The machine thrusted forward both of its magnets, and fired a series of yellow lightning bolts toward the hare.

"Veneticus Mirror Coat!" Maverick retaliated.

The hare took her position of arms crossed and began to absorb the strike. Electricity flew into her body, and caused considerable pain, but like before, she slowly began to make that pain into her power. The power doubled within her body, and she leaped forward whilst thrusting forward both hands. Extremely great power in the form of an invisible force flew straight from her fingertips, causing a groove of destruction to contour on the ground. Magnezone was slow, and couldn't dodge it in time, so when his body came in contact with the invisible blast, it threw him into the rocky walls behind. A heavy and violent crashing sound could be heard as rocks collapsed onto his body. Veneticus' ears perked up at the sight as she hoped her opponent was done. He wasn't.

The Magnezone threw the rocks off of his body by using the power of electromagnetism. Floating forward, scratch marks could be seen on his body, but he seemed relatively painless. This was in direct contrast to Veneticus who was in complete pain due to thunderbolt from earlier. She could barely move but, her fans from earlier would be disappointed. She wouldn't disappoint them, she couldn't. So, standing tall, she once more took her battle position. Maverick laid his hand on his chin while he assessed the battle. It was strange. He felt something move through him. The way Julian was watching him battle. It wasn't as if he was trying to figure out what he was doing next. He was doing something else. Maverick's eyes widened. He was the one!

"Veneticus!" Maverick quickly roared, causing his Pokémon to tense up due to the forcefulness in his voice, "Fire Punch, now!"

Veneticus' fist quaked, and she ran forward at full speeds.

"Magnezone, Iron Defense!" Julian called, causing his Pokémon to tense up.

A glorious silver sheen covered his body at the exact moment Veneticus' fist collided with him. The Magnezone was thrown back, but was relatively unharmed. Veneticus stepped back, but her body began to quickly quake from pain. She ignored it though; she had another trick up her sleeve.

"Veneticus, Grass Knot!"

The hare forced her hand into the ground, and pulled out a long and strong rope-like vine. She leaped onto the Magnezone's body, and tied the grass rope around its two magnets. With its main method of attack tied together she quickly leaped off of the machine to throw it down. At first it wouldn't budge due to its great size, but Veneticus was persistent. She pulled with all of her might and shook the magnet Pokémon off of its gravitational pull. Pulling mighty strength from out of nowhere, she swung the Pokémon around in a circle before slamming it into the ground. A great and violent quake rumbled through the earth as the feeling of the massive Pokémon shook everything. Veneticus breathed in and out heavily as she waited for the strained muscles in her arms to heal.

"Magnezone, Charge Beam!"

Veneticus' eyes sprang open. The fur on her body of her head began to stand, but not because of fear. The powerful electromagnetism of the Magnezone was attracting her hairs. The magnet Pokémon floated up from the ground and began to charge up massive electrical power. Lightning bolts from around the air flew into the yellow horn on the back of his head, giving power to his charging beam. Veneticus began to fidget as fear gripped her. She had no idea how she was going to survive such an attack. The pain in her body hindered her from moving, and if she tried using Mirror Coat again, her body would surely give out from the attack. So, as the forces of Julian's Magnezone slowly increased, she turned over to her Master, praying he had an idea up his sleeve.

"Veneticus," he started, "Dizzy Punch!"

Veneticus gave him the single most confused look she could muster. If she performed Dizzy Punch on that mechanical monstrosity. At least, it would do nothing; at most, it would break her hands.

_Ignore him Aphrodite! _A voice rung in her head _He's gone off of his rocker!_

"I can't ignore him," Veneticus pleaded, "he's my Master."

_He's not your Master, Aphrodite! He's just some commoner! Why are we even battling, we're Princesses, not Warriors!_

"My name is not Aphrodite, not anymore, I am Veneticus!"

Quickly, she leaped forward, and delivered a two punch combo to the machine's face. Just as she predicted, it did nothing but hurt her own hands. But it did have an unfortunate side effect, unfortunate, that is, for Julian. Magnezone's eyes grew cross-eyed. It couldn't see straight anymore as its world became double image.

"Magne-Zone?" it said in confusion, which in Pokémon language, translates to, "Vzzzzt Unit Magnezone cannot see!"

"Magnezone fire it!" Julian ordered.

The machine aimed its blast carefully and fired, hitting nothing but the side of a rock. Veneticus smiled at the failed attack as she realized she had been given a chance at survival.

"Veneticus, lets end this, Fire Punch!"

She nodded, before charging up one last flaming fist.

"Buneary." she said cockily, before leaping forward with mighty strength and vigor.

When her fist collided with the mechanical Pokémon, head a very visible explosion occurred. Dust flew in every direction, and when it settled, the Magnet Area Pokémon was defeated.

There was a very audible silence, before the entire stadium erupted in an explosion of praise and cheers. Veneticus could hear her name being chanted as she stood tall above her foe. Never before had she felt so good.

"Wow..." Jon said, "Just wow... I'm... speechless."

"That small Buneary just did what no other Trainer in this tournament could do. He took down Julian's Magnezone." Vance stated.

"Who do we give props to in this battle, Maverick or Veneticus."

"Maverick did tell her to deliver the Dizzy Punch which one the battle."

"But Veneticus was the one who never gave up; although I'm sure her body is extremely sore."

"I suppose we'll never know."

"For the best, eh?"

Julian stepped back in pained surprise. He couldn't believe his Magnezone now lied before him, defeated. He didn't want to believe it. His Magnezone had more defensive power than eight Bunearys put together, then how? How did this happen? The blue haired man's face quickly bent down in rage, before he thrusted forth his Ultra Ball and returned the magnet Pokémon to its small home. Pulling out Great Ball from his Poké belt, his silently whispered to it,

"Do not fail me. Go, Machamp!"

"Finally, we see Julian's second Pokémon." Jon said, his interest peaked.

"Did he just yell out Machamp?" Vance inquired.

The blue and red ball fell to the ground, and brought forth the four armed king of strength.

"Maaaaaaaa-Champ!" the superpower Pokémon roared to the sky, gaining a pleasant reaction from the crowds.

"Oh boy a Machamp." Jon said, "Vance, what are its measurements?"

"Julian's Machamp stands tall at six feet, and weighs three hundred pounds."

"Wow, buuuuuuuuuuut, that doesn't come in to as heavy Julian's Magnezone was."

"That may be true, but Machamp holds a type advantage on Veneticus, and she already has lowered health."

"We'll just see what Maverick does, huh?"

The trainer crossed his arms as he came to decision. Looking down to his barely standing Buneary, he realized she couldn't go on anymore. And even if she could, she still would be dangerously out performed by her opponent. So lifting her Quick Ball, he said solemnly,

"Veneticus, return."

She quickly jerked her eyes to her Master but shook her head no.

"No?" Maverick said in disbelief, "What do you mean no?"

"Bune, ne... Buneary!" she yelled out.

"Veneticus, now is not the time to be stubborn, return!"

The red beam of the Poké Ball flew out, but she was quick, and she easily dodged it. Maverick looked down at her with wide eyes as the crowd grew deathly silent.

"Veneticus return!" he yelled out, sending the red beam after her, but just like before she easily dodged it.

"Veneticus return!" he yelled out again, trying the same series of events to play out.

Each time he sent that red beam after her, she dodged it quickly.

"Buneary, Buneary!" she yelled back.

"Veneticus!" Maverick said, his voice clearly holding anger.

"Lucario..." Courage said, laying her paw on Maverick's shoulder.

"What Courage?" he asked her.

The aura Pokémon looked at him long and hard, before she procured the Poké ball from his hands.

"Courage, what are you doing?"

"Lucario..." she replied, her eyes glowing in sight.

"What, you just want me to let her battle?"

She nodded.

"Fine..." turning his head to Veneticus, "You better have something in those ears of yours."

The rabbit smiled, before lifting one of her ears. Held clamp down under her ear, a Sitrus berry. She lifted it and took quick and powerful bites out of it.

"Oh thank the stars!" she announced, "It was so hard holding this in."

When the berry disappeared from her hands and into her mouth, she felt fully rejuvenated. Sure her body still ached in some areas, but not so much she couldn't battle the four armed creäture in her face.

"So... what's your name?" Veneticus asked the Machamp.

"I go by Crusher in some circles." he said, sure of himself.

"Oooookay."

"Are berries aloud in the tournament?" Jon asked.

"Only if the Pokémon themselves use it, and not the trainer." Vance answered.

"I see... so this little Buneary brought in a berry and used its strength to keep going."

"Veneticus just loves to battle." Vance said.

"Then we'll see if her love of battle will bring her to victory now."

Slowly, the stadium grew silent. Maverick smirked, and so did Julian.

"Let's do this," Maverick whispered under his breath, "Quick, Veneticus Grass Knot!"

The hare nodded, before leaping forward with her grass rope in hand. She closed the distance between her and her opponent quickly, easily sliding under his feet before he knew so. She tied the grass around his ankles, and began to pull, but the Machamp merely chuckled. Using his impressive leg strength, he tore the vines before Veneticus could trip him up.

"Machamp, Karate Chop."

The four armed super being grabbed the small hare with one of his free hands, and brought down a perfectly flat hand upon her skull. A loud slamming sound echoed throughout the entire stadium as the crowd went "OH!?" in unison. Veneticus went silent in the Machamp's arms, and she ceased moving as well. Placing her on the ground he instantly began gloating to the stands. Everyone watched him pure astonishment, as he pranced the surrounding area with two arms raised and two arms on his fists. And then something happened. The people in the stands began to chant Veneticus' name. The Machamp was understandably confused at first, before he turned around. Slowly getting to her feet, the hare in question spat out a bit of blood.

"Is that all you got?" she asked her four limbed foe.

"Still willing to go, eh?" the Machamp asked.

"I don't," she took her battling position, "give up so easily."

"Good! I don't like quick battles!"

Veneticus took her signature battle stance, while the Machamp took one of his own. It was strange, this pain the hare was feeling. It was much different from before. The pain she felt running up and down her spine, was not the same pain she felt before when she fought all the others. This pain was enticing. It forced her to go on, instead of holding her back.

"I've got something up for you." Veneticus said as she smiled, "Something so strong, you'll be begging me to let you go."

"Oh yeah?" Machamp said, his smile growing, "What is it?"

"Veneticus, Fire Punch!" Maverick roared.

The hare grinned and dashed forward, throwing a flaming fist to the Machamp's chest. The flame charred his chest, but did relatively little to stop his foe.

"Machamp, Dynamic Punch!" Julian yelled out.

The superpower Pokémon threw forth an explosive fist. Somehow though, Veneticus ducked down and dodged the attack quickly.

"Veneticus Low Sweep!"

Listening, the hare quickly delivered a kick to the Machamp's legs. This slowed him down, but not long enough for his next attack to miss.

"Machamp, Submission!"

The four armed being grabbed the small hare and leaped dangerously in the air. She felt the wind rush by her head, before she finally felt her body crash painfully into the ground.

"Veneticus, Grass Knot!"

The hare suddenly felt her spirit revitalize, and she withdrew a grass rope out of the ground. She wrapped it around the Machamps neck, and quickly shuffled out of his powerful grip. Leaping over his back, the hare began to pull and pull. The Machamp could feel the air rush out of his throat as the power of suffocation reached into his body. He choked for a few moments as the hare pulled on his neck, before he used his impressive muscles to tear the vine into pieces. Veneticus bounced back after her weapon was destroyed before focusing on her foe with a sharp gaze. He slouched over, breathing in and out to catch his breath. Boy was Veneticus giving him a run for his money.

"Machamp, Karate Chop!"

The four armed one leaped forward, his hand in position and struck at the hare. By the time he made it to Veneticus position, the hare had already moved. His hand crushed the very ground he stood on, but failed to touch the hare he so desperately wanted to beat. Jerking his eyes left and right, he found nothing. But she found him.

"Veneticus, Jump Kick."

The Machamp dragged his eyes to the sky just in time to see the hare's foot meet his face. The strike was strong, and threw him into the ground with a quaking pound. His heavy body crashed into the ground and caused rocks and boulders to break under his body. Veneticus stood tall above her defeated foe as her body went up and down with power.

"Is that it!?" she teased, though she wondered why her body did such a thing.

The Machamp got back on his feet and gazed intimidating at her foe.

"Not bad..." he said, his voice ringing, "Not baddddddd... attttt... alllllllllllllll...Ughaaghghgh."

For some reason no one could quite understand, Machamp fell back in defeat. Veneticus looked at him with her eyes wide in confusion.

"Um... what?" she said.

He was done, his body was silent, and his eyes lied firmly in the back of his skull. Julian looked at his Pokémon with an equally stunned face, while Maverick smiled knowingly.

"Well what d'ya know..." he said.

And the crowd went wild.

"Veneticus! Veneticus!" could be heard echoing through everyone's mouths.

The hare looked up to the stands, a face of pure happiness across her lips, and said aloud,

"Buneary!"

And that made the crowd go wild. Up and down the stands people stood up to congratulate the hare on her recent victory. Somehow, in the battles that proceeded this night, Veneticus made a name for herself. As she gazed at the cheering crowds she wondered if Eliza was among them.

"This is not over yet!" Julian roared from his stand, withdrawing his last Poké ball.

Though his words were true, no one listened. By all intents and purposes, this battle _was_ over. Even if his next Pokémon was strong enough to beat Veneticus, it wouldn't make a lick of difference, because he would still have to battle Bary and Courage. It was over; he was shown up, by one small hare. And she was basking in the glory of victory.

So Julian pulled back his Poké ball, and thought long and hard on what needed to be done. He needed that moon rock. Maverick had no idea what was inside of it. He didn't know the special properties of that virus. He didn't know what it was.

"I won't lose..." Julian said quietly to himself, "I can't lose... failure is not an option." His eyes floated dangerously toward Maverick, "I will end you."

"It looks like Julian is preparing his last Pokémon." Vance said.

"Let's see if its enough to turn the tide of battle." Jon commented.

The blue haired trainer leaned forward as he prepared his next Poké ball. No one was paying attention to him, but a sadistic smile spread across his face.

"Go Salamence!" he roared, throwing his red and white ball out.

The containment unit slammed against the ground, and brought forth a great blue dragon Pokémon.

"Saaaaalamance!" he roared to the heavens, causing a pleasant reaction from the surrounding crowds.

Veneticus looked at the winged lizard as she felt her heart race. For some reason, she did not fear fighting the blue creäture, and in fact welcomed it. Taking her battling pose once more, she wondered if she could take down three Pokémon this evening.

"Salamance," Julian said, "Hyper beam!"

The lizard charged up its attack, while the hare took a defensive position. The crowd slowly quieted down as they waited the battle to unfold.

"Veneticus, Dizzy Punch!" Maverick called, causing the hare to nod.

She dashed forward at high speeds, clearing the distance between her and her foe vastly. But something caughter her eye. She looked up at Julian as his face bent downward with an evil smile. That caused her heart to plummet in fear. Not in fear for her own safety, no, in fear for Maverick's.

"Salamence, just like we practice, fire!"

The lizard's head pointed up, but not toward Veneticus. Instead, its head aimed straight toward Maverick. The trainer, realizing the attack was ment for him, stepped back in fear, while the crowd went wild. It was only when the blue dragon fired its beam, did they realize the true horror Julian had in store.

The shimmering red beam tore through the battle field, failing to hit Veneticus, but succeding in hitting the red post. Right before it struck Maverick though, Courage leaped in the way of the blast, taking it on full force. An explosion occurred, causing people to go wild in fear and screams. Most made their way for the exit, especially as Julian's Salamence took to the sky. Using its fire breath, the winged creäture destroyed the Stadium's jumbo tron, ending all communications from Jon and Vance. It looked down to the ground with a sadist's eyes before returning to the ground.

"Salamence, make sure no one gets any funny ideas." Julian said maliciously, "I'm going to send Dragonite to help you."

The blue dragon nodded, as the Poké ball containing his ally fell to the ground. When it snapped open, it quickly brought to life the 7 foot guardian of the sea, Dragonite.

"DRAGONITE!" it announced to the world, though anyone in the stadium who wasn't screaming, probably wasn't listening anyway.

The dragon duo flew the skies, and gazed down with sharp eyes, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. Sitting on the grounds of the battlefield, stunned by what she had just witness, Veneticus watched the carnage. Her heart was racing rapidly, she couldn't believe how quickly things got out of hand. She should have been more cautious. If only she hadn't gotten all worked up in the battle, she probably would've been able to stop this... somehow.

The hare slowly dragged her eyes over to the red post just in time to see the dust from the explosion settle. When it did, there was nothing, the red post was demolished. Veneticus felt her heart stop.

"No..." she said, "Not again!"

Using her powerful legs, she leaped over to the post to find its insides hollow. Beneath the podium where trainers stood was a series of circuits and mechanical diots. Veneticus climbed into the destroyed stage with a heavy heart. She saw no one, not Maverick, not Courage, and not even Bary.

"Courage!?" she called, but no one answered, "Master Maverick!?" but once more silence, "Oh Bary, please answer me!"

"Agh... what happened?" her voice rang, sounding frail.

"Bary!?"

"I'm... over here."

Her well-groomed rabbit ears stuck out from pieces of the collapsed post. Veneticus lifted the rubble from off of her body, and helped her to her feet.

"Bary, are you alright?"

"Yeah but... how'd I get in here?"

"Nows not the time, help me find Master Maverick and Courage."

Bary nodded uneasily as a quick burst of pain went through her body. Veneticus held her down, before the two trekked through the down podium. It didn't take long for them to find their trainer. There he lied, Maverick did, in a perfect plateau made from debris. But he wasn't moving. His body was still and silent, and the two hares couldn't hear him breathing. Veneticus and Bary at first couldn't believe their eyes.

"M-M-M-Master... Maverick?" Bary said first, her voice getting caught in her throat.

Veneticus said nothing, and merely walked up closer to his still body. She leaned in close to his chest, and placed her ear to his chest. There was nothing but silence.

"Master... Maverick?" Veneticus said, liquid filling in her eyes.

"No... no..." Bary said, walking up as well.

They began to sob in unison, as they grabbed Maverick's hands. They couldn't believe it. He was dead. That blasted Salamence killed him. They cried out, there tears staining the ground and Maverick's clothing as they came to terms with what has happened. And then... they began to shine.

Bary started first, her skin began to glow a blinding white. Veneticus looked at her friend, before she realized she too was changing. Her body was feeling weird. She could feel every inch of her body change and morph under the white sheen over her body. It scared her, but she didn't even know what was happening. She was blinded by the light, unable to see anything and everything. When the light subsided, she felt... different... new...

"Lo... Lopunny?" escaped her mouth.

"Veneticus..." Bary said, her voice was different, it sounded older and more mature.

"B... Bary?" Veneticus replied, her voice too was older sounding.

"Look at you!" Bary exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Look down... wait... look at me."

They traded looks with each other. Their eyes which were originally brown, were now black and red. They were much taller too, and their bunny ears were no longer rounded, instead they were sharper, and fell far down to their feet. Their bodies were now more feminine in nature, with sleek shaved fur around their feet like boots, and puffy mounds of fur around their wrists. They had evolved. They were no longer Bunearys, they were Lopunnys.

"I feel... stronger." Veneticus said.

"Me too... so that was what evolution feels like..." Bary replied.

Standing up, the two had to take in the effects of how evolution changed them. Between the two, Bary was a bit bustier, while Veneticus stood much taller. The three scars that characterized her as a Buneary remained on her stomach area, however.

"Veneticus..." Bary asked, her eyes becoming misty, "What do we do now?"

The hare looked at her friend, before turning down to her master.

"I... I don't know..." she answered.

Bary brought her furry cuffs to her eyes in an attempt to dry her face of the tears she was rapidly producing. Veneticus on the other hand looked down to her master. That's when she saw him breathe.

Maverick coughed up in pain as his body quickly jolted. He didn't have the strength to move himself up, but right now it didn't matter.

"What the hell happened?" he said, his voice raspy with pain.

"Lopunny!?" Bary and Veneticus cried out in unison.

Their master looked at them with thoughtful eyes, before calling out,

"Bary... Veneticus...? Is that... you?"

They nodded, proving his questions right.

"You evolved?"

Once more they nodded.

"Oh man... I wish I was there to see that."

He leaned up, but the pain in his body forced him back down.

"Lo lo... Pun..." Bary said, her words sounding concern.

"Bary, where's Courage?" Maverick asked, but his Pokémon shrugged.

"Punny lo..." she answered.

"God... I should've seen this coming. I put you all in danger... I let victory crowd my thoughts..." he once again tried to get up, but this time Bary held him down.

"Lopunny..." she said sincerely.

"We've gotta find Courage and get out of here. I'm not going to keep you in danger." Reaching to his waist, he found out his Poké belt wasn't on him. He groaned, before saying, "Next time, I'm not leaving my Pokémon with Nurse Joy."

"Salamence!" the blue Pokémon roared from outside.

"Dragonite!" the orange one called too.

That peaked Maverick's interest. That blast knocked the last few minutes out of his head, because the last thing he remembered was Veneticus defeating Julian's Machamp. He tried getting up once again, but the pain was too great. But he had to fight them. For some reason, he knew he had to stop them, but he just couldn't.

"Veneticus, Bary, get out of here and get Officer Jenny... she should be able to help us."

"Lopunny." Veneticus said, shaking her head in a 'No' manner.

"Not now Veneticus." Maverick said.

"Lopounny..." Bary said, she too shaking her head no.

"What? Do you two plan on fighting them?"

They said nothing, only nodding to prove their answer. Maverick could've argued with them all he wanted, but the pain he was feeling forced him to give them the answer they wanted. So, nodding solemnly, he said with a low voice,

"Don't hurt yourselves... okay?"

The Lopunny duo stood tall, and nodded with smiles toward their master.

"Lopunny." they remarked.

Turning toward the entrance in the fallen post they stomped off toward their foes.

"Think we can handle them?" Veneticus asked Bary.

"Of course. Between the two of us, they can't win." Bary replied.

Before they leaped to the desert battlefield, they could see their foes flying in the skies above the arena. Julian, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. This caused a smirk to appear on Veneticus' lips.

"Let's go!" she quickly announced before leaping onto the battlefield with her ally.

When the duo landed, a shockwave sent rumbles through the stadium and air. This quickly caught the attention of Julian's Salamence and Dragonite. The dragon duo quickly landed parallel to the hares and sized up their opponents.

"So..." the salamence said, "You evolved."

Veneticus crossed her arms and said nothing.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my Master." Bary said.

"We shall see..." Salamence stated, "Come Dragonite, we have dinner to deal with."

His orange friend ceased playing with his whiskers to move forward toward his foe. Veneticus took her battle position, but found that it now didn't match well with her new body. So instead, she stretched out her new evolved body and cracked the bones in it, allowing her to fit tightly into her new limber style.

"Okay, then," she said as she took a new battle pose, "let's see if you can match me."

Bary looked long and hard at her friend as she laid one of her claws on her lips.

"Huh... I'm not sure I can fight like that." she said.

"It won't matter in the long run." the Salamence claimed.

"Prove it!" Veneticus threatened.

The two looked long and hard at each other. Their allies ceased to exist as they gazed intensely into each others eyes. The next thing they remembered doing, was dashing at each at full speeds. When they collided, Julian's Salamence tried to headbutt Veneticus, but she was able to stop his attack by grabbing him by the neck. She held him tight, before slamming him into the ground, causing it to crackle under the extreme pressure.

The hare stepped back after doing so. She couldn't believe that she had just done such a thing. For her to do something like that was impossible, she lacked such power. But she remembered, she no longer was the small Buneary from before, but now a strong and powerful Lopunny.

"Wow..." she said in admiration of her own power.

"Not bad." the Salamence said as he got to his feet, "But not good enough."

His powerful wings began to flap and he quickly took the skies. Veneticus trained her eyes on him, before hunching down. When she was a Buneary before she could jump pretty far, but she wasn't sure if she would be able to catch him while he flew now. Wanting to test this new body of hers however, she quickly leaped after her flying foe. Her legs were strong alright, for even though he was high in the sky, the hare was able to get to him easily, latching her furry hands around his scaly neck. He choked as her grip grew heavier, and she quickly dove him face first into the ground. Leaping off before she crashed too, she was able to watch the blue dragon slam into the ground and up root the rocks from beneath. Posing, she suddenly began to flex the muscles in her arm.

"Wow... this really rules." she said.

Suddenly fire spouted from the area she sent the dragon plummeting too. The beam of fire barely miss the hare, but that did not frighten her. Gazing over to her foe, she watched him return to a hovering position above the rocky ground. His eyes gleamed, but Veneticus was not deterred. Quickly he fired a beam of fire toward Veneticus, but she quickly dodged it. The earlier attack was a ruse though, used to keep her busy while he rammed her. His head struck her square in the chest, keeping her in a stunned position while he drove her into a rocky wall. The boulders collapsed on the two, but the Salamence stood tall first, grinning while he did so. This moment of pleasure was short-lived though when a rope made of thick grass wrapped around his snout. Veneticus pulled him down to the ground, and quickly used her speed to wrap the grass knot around the rest of his neck. Flames spouted from the Salamence's nose, but failed to touch the grass he was constrained by. Veneticus put pressure on the vine and began to choke the Salamence into submission. At first it worked, as the dragon could not escape, but the moment went by quickly, as he swiftly tore through the vine with his claws. He swung around to the rabbit, and set his body ablaze by a black and reddish aura. Somehow, that made him faster, because the next thing Veneticus remembered was the Salamence directly in his face. He head butted her violently, before wrapping her leg up with his tail. She was held up in the air in front of the Salamence's face while he charged up another dragon blast from his mouth. Veneticus wasn't fearful though. She quickly shook her fist, setting it ablaze, and drove it into the Salamence's mouth. His eyes widened as the fire in his mouth lacked an escape route. Veneticus gave him a flirty smile, before an explosion richocheted out of his mouth and set the rest of his head in a smoldering blaze.

Bary's way of fighting though was much, much different. She laid her hand around Julian's Dragonite's head while she laid her slender body on the Dragonite's hand. His mind was clouded as he looked into the beautiful rabbit's eyes. Her body was perfect in his eyes. The way she looked, smiled, and even smelled enticed him. And the way she spoke.

"You would love it if I kissed you, wouldn't you?" she asked.

"Uh-huh..." he said, drool falling from his lips.

"Whispered sweet nothings in your ear?" she continued.

"Uh-huh..." he remarked, the love struck face on his head growing.

"Wanna have long walks and talks on the beach?" she asked.

"Uh-huh..." he said, his body growing weak in the knees.

"Well guess what..."

"What?" his hopes were high.

"That's NOT GONNA HAPPEN!"

Dragonite's eyes widened at the sudden change of demeanor. Bary rose her hand and began to summon a torrent of electrical energy. From the clouds in the sky, a power yellow lightning bolt summoned from the heavens clashed down on the dragon's body. Because of Bary's sensual nature earlier, the Dragonite's defenses were completely open, and the electrical surge of power turned him into a charred husk. He fell down moments later, defeated. Bary hopped down on both feet, a cheery expression on her face while she let out a great call to the sky.

...

"Where is it!?" Julian roared as he looked feverishly for the moon rock. The trophy laid dented on the ground as he searched the Stadium's colossal cargo for his coveted moon rock. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find the blasted stone. It wasn't in the same case as the trophy, which surprised him, but he did know it was here. It was almost as if he could feel its presence. And now, he was feeling someone else's presence.

Julian's head turned slowly toward the cargo room's entrance, and he came in contact with the very trainer he tried to kill. Maverick stood before him, bleeding from the Hyper beam attack Salamence performed on him. In his hand, a rare sight for any Pokémon region. In Maverick's hand, lied a gun.

Julian looked at the black tool in Maverick's hand, causing the trainer to grin evilly.

"What?" he said, "Never seen a gun before?"

"Where'd you get that?" Julian asked.

"Doesn't matter." the trainer replied, "What does matter, is why the hell have you've been trying to kill me!?"

Julian made a sudden movement, but Maverick quickly aimed his gun in his direction.

"Ah ah ah!" Maverick said, "I'm already a bit jumpy, so it's not wise to be moving so quick or else I might shoot. Now... Why the hell have you been trying to kill me!?"

Julian began to move slowly to the side.

"You have no right to own that rock." he said.

"Why!?"

"That rock contains information more powerful than your puny mind can muster."

"You do understand I am holding a gun, right? I can shoot you whenever I please, so I recommend you save those insults."

"That rock has the ability to give us an untapped resource Maverick. If we can harness the virus in that rock, we can..." He looked long and hard into Maverick's eyes. "You wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I wouldn't understand, but not because I can't, but because I don't want to. You tried killing me for a stupid rock, regardless of what's inside, that's pretty fucked up. So you know what, you and I are going to wait her. Wait until Officer Jenny and the rest of the Lilycove police come so they can arrest your crazy ass."

Julian listened to the words but he wasn't not intimidated. In fact, those words humored him. He began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more, causing Maverick to grow confused.

"You don't understand, do you Maverick?" Julian said, "Whatever happens here, now, it doesn't matter. We will get that rock... you are only delaying the inevitable."

"We...? Who's we?"

There was a rumble in the ground. A horrible rumble, one that caused Maverick to lose his footing. Julian stood tall and unaffected though, as his smile grew more evil with each passing second. And then the ground exploded.

...

Veneticus stood on the battlefield along side Bary as the defeated bodies of their foes laid helplessly on the ground. The floor shook like a heavy earthquake seconds later. The quaking grew so bad, the two could barely stand.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-what's g-g-gg-oing onnnnnnn!" Bary yelled.

"Some-some-somethings, bu-bu-bu-bursting through the g-g-g-ground!" Veneticus answered.

The stadium began to tilt dangerously to the side. Erupting from the ground with his signature long serpentine body was... Rayquaza. Veneticus and Bary looked at the creäture with equally stunned eyes. Never before had they been so close to a legendary Pokémon. This was an experiance only the most special trainers ever got to see. And this terrified them.

"RAYQUAZA!" he roared to the heavens as his body stretched high above the stadium walls.

Anyone standing outside of the Pokémon Stadium could see the great weather king. His mere image caused people to fall to the ground screaming, cars crashed into each other and walls, while people began to run for their lives. The great air serpeant was the embodiment of pure terror.

...

The ceiling of the cargo room fell all around Maverick. He could barely lift his head to see what was going on, but he could hear it. His ears still rung from the screeching call.

"Rayquaza?" he said in disbelief, "But... Rayquaza lives in the clouds."

Slowly bringing his head up, the trainer saw only one section of the great serpent. He struggled to get up to his feet as he used the wall as a base. He couldn't believe what he was looking at. In his entire life, he had seen Rayquaza only twice, and each time the great air being sent shock waves of shivers down his spine. This was no different.

Leaning on the wall, the trainer began to stagger off down the halls in an attempt to return to the stadium.

...

"This is impossible!" Veneticus cried, "What is he doing here!?"

"G-G-G-Great sky king Rayquaza?" Bary said, timidness in her voice, "Why have you arrived?"

The sky serpent looked down to the much smaller rabbit, and said nothing. He merely looked at them with his violent gold and black eyes.

"Why don't you say anything?" Bary asked.

"Quaza!" he roared instead, causing the ground to shake from his voice alone.

The stadium, which was already leaning to the side due to his being, began to quake even more and started to lean dangerously. The two hares leaped from the rocky battlefield and onto the stadium's bleachers parallel to the great dragon as they watched the transforming battlefield fall into the pit of the stadium. It was then that their acute hearing picked up footsteps. Walking behind them, their trainer Maverick appeared. He looked at the two, pleased with the fact that they were okay, but his face bent down in pure astonishment.

"So it is Rayquaza..." he said.

"Lolo..." Veneticus said.

Maverick's face turned into one of disgust and anger. Looking at the sky-high Pokémon made him greatly enraged for some reason. This rage went over the top when he saw Julian standing on top of the great dragon.

"What...?" he said at first, before his rage went into full blast, "What the hell are you doing up there!?" he roared.

"Surprised Maverick?" the ace trainer replied as he gazed down.

"Well of course I am! What are you doing on Rayquaza!?"

"This is the power true trainers can obtain, Maverick." he said, "Your rules mean nothing to me."

"Just because you have a legendary Pokémon at your side doesn't make you any more better!"

"Who cares? The only thing keeping me and Rayquaza from you, are your two rabbits."

A blue light began to shine from under the stadium. Seconds later, the aura Pokémon leaped up from the pits of the stadium's floor and into the same area as her master and allies. Courage's body was pretty injured, but not so much that she couldn't fight. This worked in her favor though, when a Lucario is hurt, its powers increases.

She looked over to the sky-high dragon, rage in her teeth, and announced, in perfect english,

"FACE THE POWER OF THE AURA!"

She pulled her paws back in the air, and began charging an unbelievable amount of aura energy. The blue and white light she created became blinding to anyone's eyes, and when she released it, it was spectacular. The blue energy wave from her hand collided with Rayquaza's body, forcing the creäture to sheild itself from the pain. Her beam fired continously though, traveling up and down the weather king's body. This went on for eight long seconds, before the aura Pokémon beam fizzled.

Rayquaza reeled back in pain from the attack, causing it to jerk its body left and right. When the smoke cleared from the damaging attack, it revealed something malicious. It wasn't Rayquaza... it was a machine.

"Whoa..." Maverick said, "It's like one of those Pokéstar Studio movies."

"What have you done!?" Julian roared as he hung on one of the faux Rayquaza's fins.

"I knew you were no righteous person." Maverick said, "Creating a fake Rayquaza, while impressive, is a pathetic attempt at getting power!"

"You don't know what power is!"

"I don't need to know what power is, you pompous jackass, but I do know that creating some tin manifestation of a legendary creäture doesn't give you it."

"I'll show you!"

"Then do it!"

"Ergh! Rayquaza! Hyper beam, now! Destroy Maverick!"

The horrible machination began to charge its attack, but it suddenly stopped. Flying around him, like a flies to a lamp, the many helicopters of the Lilycove police department.

"Julian Zasef!" Officer Jenny's voice rung, "You are hereby under arrest for the attempted murder of Pokémon Trainer Maverick Prime! You have to right to remain silent!"

"Shut your mouth, you green haired harlot!" Julian roared out to her, "Rayquaza, EMP blast, now!"

"EMP blast!?" Maverick and the officer yelled in unison.

The dragon ceased its destroyer charging, but instead pointed his head to the sky. Closing its mouth, it caused an electrical orb to appear in its maw. This orb began to rapidly expand, before it eventually covered the entire city of Lilycove, until finally dissolving. For a brief moment, everything was fine, and then everything started to shut off. The entire city, from the stadium, to the buildings on the coast, went as dark as the night sky. All the helicopters around his head started to fall like bugs. Some, like Officer Jenny's helicopter, went into a violent tail spin, roaring around in circles as it slowly came to the ground.

"Keep this thing flying!" Officer Jenny commanded the helicopter pilot.

"I can't!" he called back, "All the systems are shut down! Prepare for a crash landing!"

Officer Jenny's eyes widened, before pulling out Maverick's Poké belt. How she got it, no one will ever know.

"Quick, Maverick!" she yelled to the young trainer, "Catch!"

Using her impressive upper arm strength, she threw the brown satchel to the trainer, as her vehicle constantly fell.

"Jenny!" Maverick called as her carrier flew dangerously out of view. He didn't see it, but he did hear a great explosion.

He stood, stunned as he held his Poké belt in his hand. He couldn't believe it... now, he refused to believe it.

"You..." he said, surrounded by the darkness of the unlit stadium.

"Now that that's over with, Rayquaza, let's finish this! Hyper Beam."

Courage stared at the glowing energy within the machines mouth with wide eyes. Veneticus and Bary walked up behind her, wishing an answer would appear.

"Lopounny!" Bary called to her sulking master.

"Don't worry Bary..." he replied, recognizing her voice, "I won't let things end this way."

Withdrawing a Poké ball from his bag, he looked up to the sky. His face was filled with rage, teeth grinding, fist clenching, Hulk inducing rage.

"Go, Apollo." he said lowly, despite his anger.

Throwing forth his Poké ball, it quickly hatched into a Pokémon Veneticus had never seen before.

"Volcarona!" He announced greatly to the sky.

"Apollo, give us some sunlight!"

The Sun Pokémon nodded, before flying high in the sky. Moments later, the entire area grew bright, as if it were day time. Everyone in the city gazed up the sky in awe. It was truly a surreal feeling to watch the sun and moon lay side by side.

Now that the area was seeable, Maverick reached back into his Poké belt.

"I'm going to get revenge for Officer Jenny you cheating asshole." he mumbled.

"Lucario!" Courage said, her voice urgent from the near fully charged hyper beam.

"Fire it now!" Julian ordered, causing the fake Rayquaza's head to bend downward.

Opening its maw, it fired a beam of pure, raw, energy toward the trainer and his Pokémon. When the beam collided, a great explosion rung in the air, sending metal, debris, and other oddities skyward. Julian crossed his arms as he chuckled dementedly to himself, but something caught his eye. When the dust settled, Maverick was standing safetly on the back of his Metagross, Zeo. With his legs shifted up, the steel creäture was able to keep himself in the air perpetually. Using his powerful mind, he was able to create a solid force field of telekinetic energy.

"Fly me to eye level with that thing, Zeo!" Maverick commanded, to which his Pokémon obeyed.

He floated skyward, up to the point that Maverick was at the same level as Julian. The trainer grinned, before jabbing his index finger outward.

"Now this will be a great Pokémon battle!" Maverick remarked, "Your piece of trash dragon, vs. my trio of beauties, Veneticus, Bary, and Courage!"

"What, you won't use your strongest pokemon?"

"What would be the point!?" Maverick called, "My three are here right now, they're enough to end this."

"You are insane, the power of my Rayquaza will crush these three!"

"Man, you are in love with the word power! Power this, power that! You wanna see true power!? Zeo! Give us a battlefield!"

"Metagross!" the iron telekinetic roared as his red eyes gleamed bright.

Floating from the pit of the stadium, the original battlefield came to the air albeit in multiple large pieces. Once he commanded them, Courage, Bary, and Veneticus leaped down to the fragmented battlefield, prepared for a battle. They were now at neck level with the crude machination, the perfect place to do some damage.

"This is a fool's gambit Maverick," Julian called, "There's no way you can win."

"If that's true, then stop talking, and start battling! You have nothing to fear."

Julian stepped back in anger, before looking down at his three foes.

"Fine then." he said, "Rayquaza, Dragon Claw!"

The machine charged a fiery aura around his body, before slashing at his three foes with one of his claws. Though it destroyed one of the floating platforms, it failed to touch Courage, Veneticus, or Bary, as they all leaped above to dodge it. Maverick assessed the damage quickly.

"I see..." he said to himself, "Courage, Aura blast the point on his body his shoulder! Veneticus Fire Punch the exposed circuits on his chest, Bary Shadow Ball his head!"

The three nodded in unison, before carrying out Maverick's plan. The aura pokemon began to charge an intense sphere of aura as she pinpointed the location on the fake Rayquaza shoulder. Veneticus set her fist ablaze, before dashing toward the machinations chest. Bary charged up her shadowy ball, before launching it toward the mecha serpent's head. Once the shadow attack collided with his head, it sent him back a few feet, causing Julian to lose his footing. Courage's Aura Sphere finished its charge, so she sent the blast of energy toward the machine's arm, causing a noticeable explosion. Veneticus' flaming hand dove into the machine's chest, causing the seeable curcuits to snap and fly in random directions. The machine began to react strangely to the damaged cords, as it's hands began to flail about wildly. Maverick took note of this as he turned to face Bary's direction.

"Bary!" he called, "Use Thunderbolt on those cords Veneticus just destroyed!"

The hare leaped back and raised her hand dauntingly. The clouds in the bright sky began to swirl before firing down a great and powerful yellow bolt of electricity. The bolt connected with the empty cords, and caused them to explode. The metal plate guarding the many underlying cords and circuit frames flew off in random directions, revealing the highway of information beneath. The explosion also caused a foreseen even in Maverick's plan. The arm Courage attacked earlier fell off due to the pressure and powerful detonation. Julian climbed back on top of the faux Rayquaza's head, only to see the great damage did to it.

"What!? NO!" he roared, "How did this happen!?"

"Expert leading!" Maverick called back.

Julian grinded his teeth in rage, before barking out another order.

"Rayquaza! Burn these fools!"

The machine, while barely functioning, began to inhale deeply. Maverick could see flames escaping its maw. He smiled as a certain, crazy thought, entered his mind.

"Veneticus, Bary, get together!" The hares looked at him with confused eyes, before doing as they were told. "I want you to combine your Mirror Coat abilities!"

Slowly, the two traded disgruntled looks, not really sure they could pull it off. Regardless, the duo held hands, and began to focus their reflecting powers. Julian watched this with a crazed grin on his face.

"You fool!" he roared, "They'll never be able to pull it off!"

"We'll see!"

The dragon finished its flaming charge, before spewing forth a great sea of insanely hot fire. Courage took refuge on one the floating battlefields rocky crevices, while the flames began to swirl around the Lopunnys' bodies. The flames were painful, as expected, but together, they shared and halved the pain for both of them. Within them, they could feel the fires increase in strength. This gave them the power to move on through the increasingly painful flames. Julian watched this with pure astonishment. Maverick's plan was working, and if those two fired back that attack, it would be over. He refused to believe this though.

"Put in more power!" he yelled instead.

The dragon forced even more power through the flames, power it did not have. The hares were adamant however, and they stood there ground even as the flames became unbearable. Maverick was right. Somehow, teaming Veneticus and Bary up together, created an unbreakable bond.

"Courage! End those flames!" Maverick yelled.

She nodded under her rock, before leaping up in the sky. She used her aura powers to keep her in the air for a few more seconds, before taking a strange pose. Her eyes gleamed suddenly, and she shot out an aqua ring aimed right at the faux Rayquaza's mouth. The attack was strong enough to not only stop the flames, but slammed the Rayquaza's jaw shut.

"Now! Veneticus, Bary, attack!"

They opened their eyes, and put both paws skyward toward the fake Rayquaza's head. Julian looked at the creatures, terrified out of his wits, while Maverick nodded uneasily. From the rabbit's hands, an invisible blast made of the pure power given to them from the flames. It reverberated through the air, causing the sky around the unseeable blast to distort in strange ways.

A great explosion shook the sky. The clouds around the machine dragon exploded and cleared the sky for everyone to see. When the dust from the blast settled, the entire upper body of the mechanical dragon was gone. From the head down to his chest was gone. The great fake serpents body fell back, and destroied the stadium walls with its great weight. With the being dead, the lights of the city flickered back on as before.

Maverick looked down upon the crushed destroyed body of the fake Rayquaza, his eyes traveling up and down the machines husk. What should have been happiness and joy was obvious regret.

"Why?" he said as he sat down on Zeo's head.

Looking down to Veneticus and Bary, the two were celebrating their victory, while Courage looked off with her indifferent nature. Maverick wasn't in the mood for celebration though.

"Why Zeo?" he called, "Why did all of this have to happen?"

"Metagross..." he said, his voice sounding equally as depressed as his master's current demeanor.

"Let's go Zeo..."

Lifting a Poké ball, he returned his Volcarona Apollo, returning the bright night, back to darkness.

...

She could barely move, but she could feel his presence. The green haired officer looked up, pain in her red eyes, as she tried to come to terms with what happened. The lights beamed down upon her, much to her disliking, causing her to look away towards the wall. Sitting in a chair, gazing upon her with his own injuries, was Maverick.

"Good morning Officer Jenny." he said sweetly.

"Maverick?" she groaned, "Ugh... what happened?"

"You survived a helicopter crash, that's what happened. Should be lucky your Pokémon loves you a lot."

"Huh?" she said at first, before her face straightened up, "Arcanine!" she called, "Where's Arcanine!?"

"Don't worry." Maverick said with a smile, "He's alright. He dragged you and your pilot away from the down helicopter before it exploded. Lucky you."

Jenny looked away.

"Then why don't I feel lucky?"

Maverick's face bent down in displeasure as he sighed.

"A lot of your men were injured. Fortunately, all of them survived, their Pokémon saved them. A lot of looting also happened in the hour of darkness, but Hoenn's Gym leaders are helping reconstruction."

"The stadium? What happened to it?"

"That thing will be in decommission for a good few years."

"Oh great... what happened to Julian?"

Maverick sighed, before looking out the window.

"I don't know... no one knows. His body wasn't found after our body, so its assumed he escaped."

"Why do I feel like there's more bad news?"

"Julian's Pokémon also disappeared from your custody."

"How!? We had those in Jail Balls!"

"We don't know Jenny, please calm down you'll hurt yourself."

She slowly slid back down in her bed as she groaned. She was so disappointed in herself.

"Jenny." Maverick said, "What happened to the moon rock?"

She looked at him.

"What ever do you mean?" she asked sarcastically.

"Officer Jenny please tell me what happened to the moon rock."

"We confiscated it from the stadium Maverick. Before the tournament began again, we took it back to Mossdeep City. We figured that if he wanted it so bad to kill you, there had to be something different about it."

"And?"

"Nothing, we haven't gotten an answer back yet."

Maverick looked down to the floor, before looking back up.

"Why did this happen Officer Jenny?"

She looked at him with equally saddened eyes.

"I don't know." she answered.

"And you know what's the worse part?"

"What?"

"I didn't even get my trophy..."

"Really Maverick, you really care that much about that trophy!?"

He smiled.

"Of course I do! I need that thing to prove that I'm the best in Lilycove!"

Jenny turned to groan, while a begrudged smile formed on her lips.

"Maverick..." she said, "You're already the best."

The trainer blushed embarrassingly, before saying,

"Thanks Jenny..."

Standing up, he tightened the hold his Poké belt had on his waist.

"Get better, ya'hear?"

"I will Maverick. Ask about me if you run into one of my sisters."

As he exited the door he looked at her out the corner of his eye.

"I plan on it." he promised.

Maverick walked down the halls of the hospital, passing multiple other police officers injured in the calamity. Soon, he came to the Poké center of the hospital, which held the injured Pokémon of the injured officers. Among them, his three Pokémon, Veneticus, Bary, and Courage. Operating off of adrenaline last night, they hadn't noticed how much injuries they sustained until after the battle. This goes double for Courage who had broken a few bones due to the full frontal Hyper Beam she took. Maverick stepped into the Poké center and walked up to his three Pokémon. They sat near a window away from the other Pokémon, casts and coils wrapped around parts of their bodies. Though he didn't understand her, he could tell Bary was 'serenading' her allies with tales of God knows what. Courage stood with her right arm crossed over her cast arm, and Veneticus was busy touching the various parts of her new Lopunny body, specifically the scars on her gut.

"Hey you three." Maverick said, getting their attention.

The three looked at him and smiled, especially Courage, which was a rare sight to even her master.

"You all did good last night, hell, you did better than good, you did excellent! Taking down a fake Rayquaza the way you did." looking over to Veneticus, he gave her the sweetest smile he could muster, "Especially you Veneticus. Who would've thought the Buneary I caught four weeks ago in Orre would be the one who won me the gold." he laid his hand on the back of her head, and scratched it, causing shivers of pleasure to ring down her spine, "I'm really proud of you."

Veneticus looked deep into his eyes and realized something. She had reached that level of love Maverick gave only a select few.

"Lopunny..." she said, causing Bary and Courage to giggle.

"C'mon you three," he said, "let's get going, need to make it back to Sinnoh. Heard something's going down in Snowpoint."

The trio nodded, and stood up from their chairs.

"Today!" he said, "You all roam the city with me, free from your Poké balls."

Bary jumped into his arms almost instantly.

...

Maverick trekked down Lilycove's market district as he entertained the thought of buying Ice-cream. Behind him, Bary looked up to the beautiful sky, thinking about how similarly it looked the night before. Courage pried at her cast, wondering when it would come off, and Veneticus merely looked down at her exposed being. Before, it didn't matter how she looked, but now that she had this considerably different body, she felt as if she should wear clothing similarly to humans. When she dragged her eyes up from her body, she caught the sight of a clothing store. More importantly, she found the sight of one of their on sale items. In the front window, a mannequin was wearing a black leather vest. For some reason, she was mesmerized by this article of clothing.

"Lopunny." she called out to her master, "Lopunny!"

"What is it Veneticus?" Maverick called as he and his other two Pokémon walked up.

Veneticus said nothing, and only pointed to the vest before her.

"Huh? You want this?" he asked her, causing her to nod.

"Well... clothes shopping isn't my thing but... hey, what kinda trainer would I be if I didn't obey my Pokémon sometimes. C'mon..."

Opening the door to the clothing store, his Pokémon instantly ran past him. Veneticus came up to the leather vest, and tore it from the mannequin's body, not realizing the many copies next to it. Walking up to the changing room mirror, she slid the black vest on her slender body for perfect fit.

"Wow..." she said as she gazed at it, "It's so perfect..."

She moved the vest around on her body similarly to a runway model.

"It fits so perfectly... I love it..."

The door suddenly opened to the clothing room, revealing her master, Maverick. He looked at Veneticus and her new vest, and smiled.

"You like it?" he asked, to which she answered with a nod. "Well, c'mon, let's go."

Before he could leave though, his Pokémon grabbed his hand. Veneticus looked long and hard into his brown question eyes before saying,

"Look... Master Maverick... I know you don't understand me but... I want to say... I'm sorry. I mean, I'm really, _really_, sorry... You... brought me out of certain death in the Orre deserts, and I tried to kill you for that. And then, you kept trying to teach me things but, I wouldn't listen. And even though I tried running away from you that one rainy night. You came after me, and you brought me back... You never gave up on me, even though, at sometimes, I gave up on myself. I'm sorry I gave you so much hell those first few weeks... I'm really sorry..."

"I forgive you." Maverick answered.

"Lo?" she said, not knowing if he understood her or not.

"Well, obviously I don't know what you just said," Maverick remarked, grinning, "but those words sound like, 'forgive me' words so... I forgive you."

Wrapping his arms around her, he brought her close for a loving and endearing hug.

"I love you Veneticus... your my Pokémon, and as long as you love me, I'll love you back, only harder."

"Lopunny..." she said, close to tears.

"Now c'mon, like I said, Snowpoint ain't around the corner."

Veneticus pulled away, and nodded solemnly. As Maverick exited the changing room, he ran into his other Lopunny, Bary. She too had now brought herself some clothing, a cleavage exposing red shirt, along with a blue miniskirt. Maverick looked her up and down, before saying,

"Hell no!"

"Lo, lo, lo, Lopunny! Lopunny, punny!" Bary replied as she pointed at Veneticus, which roughly translated to, "But she's wearing even less than me!"

"Lopunny, lopunny!" Veneticus teased, which itself translated to, "But I don't look like a whore!"

Bary looked at her with slant eyes, before walking up to her master. Gazing into his eyes with hers sent a captivating spell over her trainer. Maverick groaned before saying,

"I guess its okay... you are a Lopunny now."

Bary jumped up and down with happiness before turning away, to run to the cash register. Maverick slouched his arm over Veneticus' shoulder and pulled her close. They headed out toward the cashier, and bought the clothing for them, and even a Poké ball styled base-ball cap for Lucario, with special slits at the top for her ears. The bill ran pretty steep for Maverick, but he didn't care. His Pokémon were happy, so he was happy.

...

_Dear Journal..._

_ The day is... Friday... I've been riding on Azula toward Sinnoh for quite some time now. Battled a few Wailords today, getting some well needed training for Bary. She's a real queen with that Thunderbolt. Anyway, I've been thinking as of late. That Rayquaza, which I've now dubbed Fauxquaza, has been on my mind for days. I can't get it out of my head. I've been wondering how he got that blasted thing, there was no way someone like him could've made it by himself. I'm thinking he's working with someone, or some group. Heh heh groups. Man, I can't get away from them. Seriously though, who made the Fauxquaza, and for what purpose? Why were they after that moon rock? What virus was Julian talking about? I'll find out some day, I know I will... Trouble is attracted to me. Anyway... till next time._

_Pokémon Master,_

_Maverick Kay Prime_

End


End file.
